•-->>>•' 


' 


-/ 


BUST  OF  JOHN   BROWN. 
(See  Note.) 


JOHN    BROWN 
THE    HERO 

personal  IRemimscences 


BY 

J.  W.  WINKLEY,  M.D., 

Editor  of  Practical  Ideals  and  Author  of  "  First 
Lessons  in  the  New  Thought." 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 
FRANK  B.    SANBORN 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 
JAMES    H.    WEST    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1905 
By  James  H.  West  Company 


U, 


PREFACE 


THE  sub-title,  "Personal  Remi 
niscences,"  is  rightly  appended 
to  this  volume.  The  old  say 
ing,  "  Much  of  which  I  saw,  and  part 
of  which  I  was,"  the  author  can  truth 
fully  apply  to  himself  in  connection 
with  the  interesting  and  stirring  oc 
currences  here  recorded.  He  relates 
the  events  because  they  were,  in  large 
measure,  personal  experiences.  And 
the  narrative  is  made  up,  for  the  most 
part,  of  historical  matter  which  has 
not  been  presented  heretofore  by  any 
writer.  In  other  words,  it  is  history 
at  first  hand. 

Another  and  more  particular  reason 


M532979 


6  Preface 

for  the  preparation  of  this  little  vol 
ume  is  because  it  is  believed  by  the 
writer  that  these  narrations  will  serve 
to  throw  some  especially  valuable 
side-lights  upon  the  subject  of  them. 
John  Brown  was  one  of  the  most 
unique  characters  in  all  our  American 
history,  and  an  original  factor  in  an 
important  part  of  that  history. 

The  volume  will  surely  be  welcome 
to  all  admirers  of  Brown,  and  it  should 
be  of  considerable  interest  to  the  gen 
eral  public. 

It  hardly  needs  mentioning  here 
that  the  standard  work  on  John  Brown, 
giving  very  fully  his  life  and  letters, 
is  that  of  the  Hon.  Frank  B.  Sanborn, 
who  kindly  contributes  the  Introduc 
tion  to  the  present  volume. 

BOSTON,  January,  1905. 


Contents 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION   ............  9 

I.  A  CALL  FOR  AID  .......  19 

II.  THE  PRAIRIE  WONDER   ....  24 

III.  THE  NIGHT  MARCH     .....  29 

IV.  A  SIEGE  AND  ITS  HEROINE  .    .  35 
V.  THE  MARCH  RESUMED    ....  43 

VI.  SEEKING  THE  ENEMY  .....  50 

VII.  THE  BATTLE  .........  55 

VIII.  A  SCENE  FOR  A  PAINTER  ...  59 

IX.  BROWN'S   NIGHT  APPOINTMENT  62 

X.  AN  INTREPID  CHARGE    ....  68 

XI.  BROWN  TO  OUR  PRISONERS  .    .  76 

XII.  HARD  LINES  .........  82 

XIII.  A  GOVERNMENT  MUSKET   ...  88 

XIV.  AN  UNFAILING  GUIDE    ....  94 
XV.  HAZARDOUS  JOURNEYS     ....  102 

XVI.  THE  OSAWATOMIE  BATTLE     .    .  in 

XVII.  CONCLUSION    .........  121 


NOTE 

THE  frontispiece  to  this  volume  is  a  represen 
tation  of  a  bust  of  Captain  Brown,  conveying  in 
so  far  a  correct  idea  of  the  exterior  man. 

This  excellent  bust,  the  best  representation  of 
him  extant,  was  made  from  measurements  taken 
by  the  sculptor  in  the  Charlestown  (Va.)  prison, 
while  Brown  was  awaiting  trial  there.  The 
photograph  was  courteously  furnished  by  the 
present  owner  of  the  bust,  Mr.  F.  P.  Stearns, 
of  Medford,  Massachusetts,  whose  father,  Mr. 
Henry  Stearns,  a  life-long  friend  of  Brown, 
caused  the  bust  to  be  made. 

In  other  places  in  the  volume  are  pictures 
of  the  log  cabin  of  the  Adair  family,  one  an 
exterior  view  of  it,  the  other  an  interior,  for 
which  we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  F.  B.  Sanborn. 

Under  this  modest  roof  Brown  often  sought 
and  never  failed  to  find  welcome  resting-place 
and  hospitality.  Mrs.  Adair  was  his  half-sister; 
her  husband,  a  Methodist  clergyman,  ministered 
to  the  spiritual  needs  of  a  scattered  flock  in  the 
territory. 

The  writer,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  a  few 
years  since  to  Kansas  to  view  the  old  familiar 
spots,  found  the  cabin,  almost  the  last  of  its 
race,  not  much  changed  outside  or  writhin  from 
what  it  was  in  the  former  days.  It  is  owned 
and  occupied,  as  is  the  farm  on  which  it  stands, 
by  a  son  of  the  pioneer  minister. 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  interest  attaching  to  this 
little  book  demands  from  me 
some  notice  of  its  author,  and 
of  my  indebtedness  to  him  while  pre 
paring,  twenty  years  ago,  a  "  Life  and 
Letters  of  John  Brown,"  which  has 
since  become  the  basis  of  several 
biographies  of  that  hero.  Dr.  J.  W. 
Winkley,  long  a  citizen  of  Boston, 
was  one  of  those  who,  in  1856,  became 
a  Free  State  colonist  of  Kansas  Ter 
ritory,  then  the  skirmish-ground  of  the 
long  conflict  between  free  labor  and 
Negro  slavery.  His  residence  there 
was  brief  (1856  and  1857),  as  was 
that  of  many  who  went  out  in  the  years 
1 8  5  5-'  5  8  to  take  part  on  one  side  or  the 


i  o  Introduction 

other  of  the  contest ;  but  he  had  the 
good  fortune,  as  a  youth,  in  the  percep 
tive  and  receptive  period  of  life,  to  come 
under  the  influence  of  a  hero  ;  and 
this  book  portrays  the  incidents  of 
that  interesting  acquaintance.  Nearly 
thirty  years  later  he  communicated 
to  me  this  story,  and  I  succinctly 
mentioned  it  in  my  book.  But  it 
required  a  fuller  statement ;  especially 
since  it  seems  largely  to  have  escaped 
the  notice  of  the  chroniclers  of  that  dis 
turbed  and  confused  period  of  1856. 
The  partisan  movements  here  de 
scribed  came  in  between  two  of 
Brown's  famous  rights,  —  that  of 
Black  Jack,  in  early  June,  when  he 
captured  the  Virginian  captain,  Pate, 
and  that  in  the  end  of  August,  when 
he  repelled  the  formidable  attack  of 
the  Missourians  upon  the  small  settle 
ment  of  Osawatomie.  The  brothers 
Winkley  and  their  comrades  took  up 
arms  in  the  neighborhood  of  Osawat 
omie,  after  the  engagements  of  the 
first  two  weeks  in  August,  which  cul- 


Introduction  1 1 

minated  in  the  capture  of  several 
camps  or  "  forts "  of  the  Southern 
invaders  of  eastern  Kansas,  August 
14  and  1 6.  Fort  Saunders,  not  far 
from  Lawrence  was  taken  by  a  Free 
State  force  under  General  Lane, 
August  14.  On  the  i6th,  another 
Pro-slavery  "  fort,"  garrisoned  by  a 
Colonel  Titus,  was  captured,  near 
Lecompton.  The  reason  for  these 
attacks  was  thus  given  by  John 
Brown,  Jr.,  then  a  prisoner  at  Le 
compton,  guarded  by  Captain  Sackett 
with  a  force  of  United  States  dra 
goons  (August  1 6,  1856): 

"  During  the  past  month  the  Ruf 
fians  have  been  actively  at  work,  and 
have  made  not  less  than  five  in 
trenched  camps,  where  they  have,  in 
different  parts  of  the  Territory,  es 
tablished  themselves  in  armed  bands, 
well  provided  with  arms,  provisions, 
and  ammunition.  From  these  camps 
they  sally  out,  steal  horses,  and  rob 
Free  State  settlers  (in  several  cases 
murdering  them),  and  then  slip  back 
into  their  camp  with  their  plunder. 


1 2  Introduction 

Last  week,  a  body  of  our  men  made 
a  descent  upon  Franklin  (four  miles 
south  of  Lawrence)  and,  after  a  skir 
mishing  fight  of  about  three  hours, 
took  their  barracks  and  recovered 
some  sixty  guns  and  a  cannon,  of 
which  our  men  had  been  robbed  some 
months  since,  on  the  road  from  West- 
port.  Yesterday  our  men  invested 
another  of  their  fortified  camps,  at 
Washington  Creek.  .  .  .  Towards 
evening  the  enemy  broke  and  fled, 
leaving  behind,  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  our  men,  a  lot  of  provisions  and 
100  stand  of  arms.  .  .  .  This  morn 
ing  our  men  followed  Colonel  Titus 
closely,  and  fell  upon  his  camp  (near 
Lecompton),  killed  two  of  his  men, 
liberated  his  prisoners,  took  him  and 
ten  other  prisoners,  and  with  a  lot  of 
arms,  tents,  provisions,  etc.,  returned, 
having  in  the  fight  had  only  one  of 
our  men  seriously  wounded.  .  .  . 
This  series  of  victories  has  caused 
the  greatest  fear  among  the  Pro- 
slavery  men.  Great  numbers  are 
leaving  for  Missouri.  ...  I  see  by 
the  Missouri  papers  that  they  regard 
John  Brown  as  the  most  terrible  foe 
they  have  to  encounter.  He  stands 
very  high  with  the  Free  State  men 


Introduction  13 

who  will  fight,  and  the  great  majority 
of  these  have  made  up  their  minds 
that  nothing  short  of  war  to  the  death 
can  save  us  from  extermination." 

Immediately  following  the  date  of 
this  letter  of  young  John  Brown  came 
the  adventures  which  Dr.  Winkley  so 
well  describes.  They  may  have  had 
no  other  chronicler  ;  and  it  is  well 
that  the  testimony  of  an  eye-witness 
should  at  last  be  given,  ending  with 
the  striking  incident,  just  following 
the  Osawatomie  fight  of  August  30, 
when  young  Winkley,  in  the  log-cabin 
of  the  missionary  Adair,  husband  of 
Brown's  half-sister,  saw  John  Brown 
sternly  mourning  over  the  body  of  his 
son  Frederick,  killed  on  the  morning 
of  the  fight,  on  the  high  prairie  above 
Osawatomie.  I  visited  Mr.  Adair  in 
this  cabin,  in  1882,  and  talked  with 
him  on  the  events  of  that  year  of  con 
tention,  and  the  pictures  here  printed 
of  his  prairie  home  are  true  to  the 
fact  as  I  then  saw  it.  Two  weeks 
after  the  burial  of  Frederick  Brown,  as 


1 4  Introduction 

mentioned  by  Dr.  Winkley  (September 
14,  1856),  Charles  Robinson,  who  had 
commissioned  John  Brown  as  captain 
nine  months  earlier,  wrote  to  him  by 
that  title  from  Lawrence,  and  said  in 
his  letter : 

"  Your  course  has  been  such  as  to 
merit  the  highest  praise  from  every 
patriot,  and  I  cheerfully  accord  to  you 
my  heartfelt  thanks  for  your  prompt, 
efficient,  and  timely  action  against  the 
invaders  of  our  rights  and  the  mur 
derers  of  our  citizens.  History  will 
give  your  name  a  proud  place  on  her 
pages,  and  posterity  will  pay  homage 
to  your  heroism  in  the  cause  of  God 
and  humanity." 

Robinson  was  at  this  time  the  nom 
inal  leader  of  the  Free  State  settlers, 
being  their  duly  chosen  State  Gov 
ernor  under  the  Topeka  Constitution  ; 
and  he  became  the  first  actual  Free 
State  Governor  in  1 86 1 ,  when  Kansas 
was  admitted  to  the  Union  under 
another  Constitution.  Many  years 
later,  at  the  dedication  of  a  monument 


Introduction  1 5 

commemorating  the  Osawatomie  fight 
(August  30,  1877),  Charles  Robinson 
said,  among  other  things  : 

"  The  soul  of  John  Brown  was  the 
inspiration  of  the  Union  armies  in  the 
emancipation  war ;  and  it  will  be  the 
inspiration  of  all  men  in  the  present 
and  the  distant  future  who  may  revolt 
against  tyranny  and  oppression ;  be 
cause  he  dared  to  be  a  traitor  to  the 
government  that  he  might  be  loyal  to 
humanity." 

Dr.  Winkley  agrees  in  this  state 
ment  of  Robinson ;  and  his  portrayal 
of  the  man  as  he  was  in  the  midst  of 
surprises  and  responsibilities,  but  ever 
the  same  intrepid  and  resourceful 
leader,  will  add  a  new  picture  to  those 
we  already  had  of  John  Brown  in 
action.  Active  or  in  chains,  in  the 
battlefield  or  in  his  Virginia  prison,  he 
always  commanded  attention,  and  re 
ceived  the  applause  of  those  who 
knew  him. 

The  verdict  of  the  world  has  con 
firmed  this  praise  ;  and  of  all  the  men 


1 6  Introduction 

connected  with  the  dark  and  bloody 
story  of  Kansas,  from  1854  till  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War,  Brown's  name 
is  the  most  widely  known.  Blame 
has  been  mingled  with  praise ;  but 
the  involuntary  tribute  paid,  by  the 
natural  human  heart,  to  invincible 
courage  and  unwearied  self-sacrifice 
will  insure  the  prevalence  of  praise 
over  blame.  Those  who  cannot  ap 
prove  all  his  acts,  as  Dr.  Winkley 
cannot,  are  yet  convinced  generally 
of  the  high  purpose  and  grand  result 
of  his  arduous  life.  Richard  Menden- 
hall,  a  Kansas  Quaker,  who  knew  him 
well  but  "  could  not  sanction  his  mode 
of  procedure,"  yet  said,  after  Brown's 
death  in  Virginia  : 

"Men  are  not  always  to  be  judged 
so  much  by  their  actions  as  by  their 
motives.  I  believe  John  Brown  was 
a  good  man,  and  that  he  will  be  re 
membered  for  good  in  time  long  hence 
to  come." 

Quite  recently  an  English  author, 
William  Stevens,  writing  a  history  of 


Introduction  1 7 

slavery  and  emancipation,  has  occasion 
to  name  John  Brown,  and  the  warmth 
of  his  eulogy  does  not  satisfy  the  cool 
judgment  of  that  most  reflective  jour 
nal,  the  London  Spectator,  which  says  : 

"  Mr.  Stevens  asks  if  Brown  did 
not  see  the  forces  moving  towards 
abolition  more  clearly  than  did  his 
friends  who  protested  against  the 
daring  of  his  schemes  :  yet  he  em 
phasizes  too  much,  surely,  the  forlorn 
recklessness  of  the  man's  methods. 
But  a  more  fearless,  resolute,  and 
cooler-headed  man  never  lived.  His 
family  life,  the  devotion  of  his  own 
flesh  and  blood  to  him,  and  his  tender 
ness  were  indications  of  a  character 
intensely  human,  but  also  of  a  man 
who  had  counted  the  cost  and  knew 
that  the  individual  must  yield  to  the 
race.  He  lit,  not  a  candle,  but  a 
powder-magazine  ;  and  his  last  words 
prove  that  he  foresaw,  as  plainly  as 
man  ever  saw  sunrise  follow  dawn, 
that  blood,  and  blood  alone,  would 
loosen  the  shackles  of  the  slave." 

Events,  in  fact,  followed  the  track 
which  Brown  pointed  out,  and  with  a 


1 8  Introduction 

swiftness  that  startled  even  such  as 
accepted  his  clear  insight  of  the 
national  situation.  There  was  some 
thing  prophetic  in  his  perception  of 
the  future ;  he  could  not  see  well 
what  was  directly  before  him,  but  of 
the  consequences  of  his  action,  and 
of  that  of  other  men,  he  had  the  most 
piercing  and  sagacious  view.  Such 
men  appear  on  earth  but  rarely ;  when 
they  come,  it  is  as  martyrs  and  seers. 
Fatal  are  their  perceptions,  and  to 
themselves  as  well  as  to  the  order  of 
things  they  subvert.  But  it  is  more 
fatal  to  disregard  the  warning  they 
give.  Their  remedy  for  existing  ills, 
sharp  as  it  must  be,  is  for  the  healing 
of  the  nations  and  for  the  relief  of 
man's  estate. 

F.  B.  SANBORN. 

CONCORD,  January,  1905. 


JOHN    BROWN    THE 
HERO 

{Personal  IRemfntecences 


I 


A  Call  for  Aid 


IT   was   of  an   August    morning  in 
that  eventful  year  of  Kansas  his 
tory,    1856,    in    the    gray    of    the 
earliest  dawn,  that  a  horseman  came 
riding  at  full  speed  up  the  creek,  the 
south   branch    of   the    Pottawatomie, 
from  the  direction  of  the  lower  settle- 


io       John  Brown  the  Hero 

ments,  and  halted  before  our  cabin 
door. 

The  animal  he  rode  was  all  afoam, 
and  gave  other  signs  of  having  been 
urged  hard  and  over  a  long  distance. 
As  the  rider  dismounted,  his  nerv 
ous  and  excited  manner  told  us  he 
was  the  bearer  of  ill  tidings  or  that 
he  was  on  some  errand  of  unusual 
importance. 

"  What  news  below  ?  "  was  asked 
the  stranger. 

"  Bad  news,"  he  replied  quickly. 
"The  Ruffians  are  over  the  border 
upon  us  again,  in  strong  force ;  and 
they  are  bent  on  '  cleaning  us  out ' 
this  time.  If  they  keep  on  they 
won't  leave  a  cornstalk  standing  to 
show  where  our  crops  grew." 

There  is  every  reason  to  conclude 
that  our  informant  was  no  other  than 
James  Montgomery,  then  all  unknown 


A  Call  for  Aid  21 

to  fame,  but  who  was  later  to  distin 
guish  himself  as  a  leader  in  the  Kansas 
struggle  for  freedom. 

As  the  writer  remembers  him  as  he 
appeared  that  morning,  he  gave  evi 
dence  of  being  a  man  of  intelligence 
and  character.  He  was  tall,  —  some 
six  feet  in  height,  —  rather  slender  in 
build,  and  of  dark  complexion.  This 
answers  the  description  given  of 
Montgomery  by  those  who  knew  him 
well. 

Montgomery  afterward  gained  well- 
earned  distinction  by  leading  Free 
State  settlers,  banded  together  for 
self-defense,  to  fire  upon  United  States 
troops,  putting  them  to  rout.  He 
became,  still  later,  a  colonel  in  the 
Northern  army  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War. 

The  trooper's  s.tory  was  soon  told, 
as  it  needed  to  be,  for  there  was  no 


22        John  Brown  the  Hero 

time  to  be  lost.  He  was  a  messenger 
from  the  Middle  River  region,  so- 
called,  dispatched  to  us  by  his  com 
rades  in  distress.  He  had  come 
twenty-five  miles  through  the  night 
and  darkness,  in  an  almost  incredibly 
short  time,  stopping  by  the  way  only 
to  arouse  the  scattered  Free  State 
men  to  arms. 

He  had  been  sent  to  ask  help. 
The  need  was  pressing.  The  in 
vaders  were  many,  defiant,  and  reck 
less.  They  had  encamped  in  the 
neighborhood,  were  burning  hay 
stacks,  foraging  their  horses  in  the 
cornfields,  hunting  down  Free  State 
men,  and  sending  terror  to  the  hearts 
of  women  and  children.  Detach 
ments  of  marauders  were  sent  out 
here  and  there  on  these  errands  of 
mischief.  They  had  even  penetrated, 
not  twelve  hours  before,  to  within  ten 


A  Call  for  Aid  23 

miles  of  the  spot  where  we  stood  ; 
had  made  prisoner  and  borne  away  a 
pronounced  Free  State  man ;  and,  in 
addition  to  that,  had  besieged  other 
Northerners  in  their  log  cabins  and 
destroyed  their  property  by  pillage 
or  fire,  —  as  we  shall  see  further  on 
in  our  story. 


II 

The  Prairie  Wonder 


BY  this  recital  of  the  messenger 
our  sympathies  were  sufficiently 
enlisted ;   but  if  anything  addi 
tional  were  needed,   further  to  gain 
our  attention,  it  was  given  then  and 
there. 

As  the  speaker  drew  his  narration 
to  a  close,  all  present  instinctively 
turned  their  eyes  in  the  direction 
whence  he  had  come  :  namely,  toward 
the  south-east.  There  a  sight  met 
our  gaze  that  riveted  us  to  the  spot 
—  a  spectacle  as  marvelous  as  it  was 
beautiful,  and  singularly  confirmatory 
of  our  informer's  words.  To  our  utter 


The  Prairie  Wonder         25 

astonishment  we  looked  directly,  at 
that  moment,  into  the  enemy's  camp 
twenty  miles  away,  though  seem 
ingly  less  than  a  quarter  of  that  dis 
tance.  It  was  one  of  those  peculiar 
phenomena,  rarely  seen  on  the  water 
and  less  frequently  on  the  land,  and 
more  wonderful  in  the  latter  case 
when  it  does  thus  appear,  because 
more  perfect  and  on  a  grander  scale : 
the  mirage. 

The  prairie  mirage  is  of  wondrous 
beauty.  It  is  usually  in  the  autumn, 
when  all  the  atmospheric  conditions 
are  favorable,  that  these  strange  illu 
sions  take  place  on  the  prairie  ocean. 
Along  the  eastern  horizon,  near  sun 
rise,  a  narrow  belt  of  silver  light 
appears.  As  it  grows  broader  the 
silvery  gray  of  its  lower  side  changes 
slightly  golden.  Fleecy  clouds  above 
the  belt  take  on  a  yellow  red.  The 
grayish  shadows  of  the  dawn  lift 


26        "John  Brown  the  Hero 

slowly  from  the  earth.  Just  before 
the  red  disk  of  the  sun  peers  above 
the  horizon-line,  one  sees  in  the  sky 
the  landscape  of  trees,  of  waving 
grasses  or  grain,  of  rocks  and  hills, 
held  together  as  it  were  by  threads 
of  yellow  and  gray  and  azure.  The 
earth  stands  inverted  in  the  air. 

The  groundwork  of  this  illusion  is 
a  grayish,  semi-opaque  mist ;  and  the 
objects  are  seen  standing  or  moving 
along  in  it.  The  feet  of  animals  and 
of  men,  the  trunks  of  trees,  the  rocks 
and  hillocks,  are  set  in  this  aqueous 
soil.  When  the  conditions  are  per 
fect,  objects  far  beyond  the  range  of 
vision  over  the  prairie  are  brought 
near  and  into  plain  view  of  the  be 
holder. 

That  morning  was  such  a  time  and 
afforded  such  a  scene.  There  was 
the  camp  of  the  enemy,  —  miles 
away,  as  has  been  said,  —  mirrored 


Prairie  Wonder         27 

perfectly  and  beautifully  on,#he  sky, 
every  feature  of  it  traced  with  the 
minuteness  of  a  line-engraving.  By 
the  aid  of  our  military  field-glass  we 
could  see  the  early  risers  moving 
through  the  camp-ground ;  the  horses, 
standing  patiently  outside  awaiting 
their  morning  meal ;  the  positions  of 
the  pickets  keeping  guard ;  the  tent- 
doors  flapping  in  the  slight  breeze  or 
swaying  back  and  forth  as  the  men 
made  egress  or  entrance.  Here  and 
there  were  knots  of  soldiers,  —  of 
two  or  three  or  four  men  each, — 
apparently  discussing  the  situation 
or  lighting  the  early  camp-fires  for 
breakfast.  Even  the  curling  smoke 
of  the  newly  kindled  flame,  as  it  as 
cended  upward,  curiously  traced  itself 
visibly  to  the  eye. 

But,  what  was  of  yet  more  interest 
and  practical  moment  to  us,  we  beheld 
the  stacks  of  arms,  the  rifles  and  shot- 


28        John  Brown  the  Hero 

guns,  of  our  foe,  reflecting  their  bur 
nished  steel,  and  the  army-wagons  for 
bearing  their  luggage  and  provisions, 
stretched  along  the  exposed  sides  of 
their  position  to  serve  as  barricades 
for  defense  in  case  of  attack.  More 
over,  there  were  the  evidences  on 
every  side  of  wanton  and  cruel  de 
struction,  —  whole  cornfields  stripped 
or  trodden  into  the  dust,  and  the 
blackened  sites  or  yet  smoking  re 
mains  of  burned  houses,  corn-bins, 
and  wheat-stacks,  the  property  of  the 
Northern  settlers. 

Here  we  had,  right  before  our 
eyes,  direct  demonstration  of  the 
truth  that  had  just  been  told  us. 
Deeply  impressive  was  it  indeed,  and 
well  calculated  to  fire  us  and  to  spur 
us  to  the  rescue. 

Surely  that  effect  it  had. 


Ill 

The  Night  March 
*d 

IT  would  perhaps  suffice  here,  so  far 
as  the  main  point  in  our  story  is 

concerned,  simply  to  say  :  We  went 
to  their  relief.  But  I  am  tempted  to 
give  a  brief  account  of  that  march, 
and  of  the  incidents  by  the  way,  as 
affording  the  reader  some  idea  of  the 
difficulties  and  vicissitudes  of  that 
Western-border,  Kansas  warfare. 

In  the  settlement  of  the  South 
Pottawatomie  river  there  were  thirty- 
six  men  and  boys,  all  told,  capable  of 
bearing  arms.  They  had  been  or 
ganized  into  a  company,  and  were 
officered  and  drilled  ready  for  emer- 


30       John  Brown  the  Hero 

gencies.  But,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
scattered  up  and  down  the  creek  over 
a  distance  of  some  miles,  to  inform 
all,  and  for  each  to  make  ready,  and 
for  all  to  get  together  occupied  the 
swift  hours  of  nearly  the  entire  day. 

Ammunition  was  to  be  collected  ; 
provisions  were  to  be  packed  for  the 
journey ;  horses  were  to  be  gathered 
up  from  the  prairie  and  bridled  and 
saddled.  And,  withal,  preparations 
were  to  be  made  for  home  defense 
and  for  the  care  of  the  women  and 
children  to  be  left  behind.  These, 
though  few,  were  all  the  more 
precious.  The  males  who  were  sick 
or  wounded,  lame  or  otherwise  dis 
abled,  constituted  the  "  Home  Guard." 

Finally,  the  leave-taking  of  wives 
and  little  ones,  though  hastily  made, 
also  consumed  time,  so  that  the  sun's 
rim  already  dipped  the  western  horizon 
before  we  were  well  under  way. 


'The  Night  March          31 

The  march  thus  taken  up  was  one 
into  a  night  of  terror  of  which  we 
little  dreamed  when  we  set  out. 

We  had  not  gone  far  before  dark 
ness  settled  down  upon  us.  The  sky, 
cloudless  through  the  day,  became 
overcast,  and  one  could  hardly  see 
his  hand  before  him.  Only  with 
great  difficulty  could  we  keep  our 
direction  and  follow  the  trail  over  the 
prairie. 

But  the  possibility  of  losing  our 
way  was  the  least  of  our  troubles. 
In  marching  at  all  that  dark  night 
we  ran  fearful  risks.  Of  that  fact 
we  were  perhaps  only  too  unduly 
conscious.  Fortunately,  however,  the 
perils  we  feared  we  did  not  encounter. 
Some  of  them  we  escaped  by  the 
merest  and  luckiest  chance.  And 
some  of  the  dangers  were  wholly 
imaginary,  though  they  were  none  the 
less  harassing  on  that  account.  To 


32       John  Brown  the  Hero 

our  excited  minds,  a  foe  lurked  behind 
every  bush ;  in  every  thicket  and 
cluster  of  underbrush  was  the  enemy 
in  ambush. 

Our  apprehensions  were  augmented 
by  the  rumor  which  twice  met  us 
that  the  "  Border  Ruffians  "  had  com 
menced  their  march  up  the  creek  at 
nightfall,  as  we  began  ours  down. 
The  terribly  anxious,  distracted  state 
of  mind  we  were  in  it  is  difficult  to 
portray  to  the  reader.  It  was  mainly 
owing  to  the  doubt  and  uncertainty 
as  to  everything. 

This  is  the  case,  naturally,  in  all 
such  warfare.  It  is  otherwise  where 
there  are  regularly  organized  military 
operations.  In  the  latter  case,  by  a 
proper  system  of  spies  and  scouts, 
the  general  is  of  course  kept  informed 
of  the  whereabouts  of  the  enemy,  of 
their  numbers,  and  of  their  move 
ments. 


The  Night  March          33 

With  us  it  was  wholly  different. 
The  air  was  full  of  rumors,  —  all 
perhaps  unreliable ;  yet  it  was  not 
safe  to  let  them  go  unheeded.  If  we 
gave  no  heed  to  the  reports  we  might 
find  ourselves  attacked  wholly  un 
expectedly. 

We  were  not  cowards,  I  will  vent 
ure  to  assert,  and  as  the  sequel  will 
abundantly  show ;  but  such  uncer 
tainty  and  suspense  were  terribly  try 
ing  to  the  nerves,  especially  on  such 
a  night,  and  in  such  darkness  ;  —  ten 
times  more  so  than  real  battle  would 
have  been.  With  open  daylight  and 
a  fair  field  we  would  not  have  hes 
itated  a  moment  to  fight  double  our 
own  number.  But  the  thought  of 
being  mowed  down  in  the  darkness 
by  an  ambushed  foe,  without  the 
chance  of  striking  back  in  defense, 
was  truly  a  harrowing  situation. 

On  the  way  we  had  several  lesser 


34       John  Brown  the  Hero 

or  larger  streams  to  ford  ;  and,  in 
that  prairie  country,  all  such  were 
densely  wooded.  At  any  of  these 
points,  a  dozen  men  well  posted  would 
have  been  equal  to  six  times  their 
number,  and  could  have  cut  us  off 
almost  to  a  man. 

Every  unusual  noise  grated  upon 
our  senses.  Twice  we  halted  and 
prepared  to  repel  an  attack.  But  the 
alarms  were  needless  :  one  was  occa 
sioned  by  a  drove  of  cattle  crossing 
the  prairie,  the  other  by  a  herd  of 
wild  deer  startled  from  their  lair. 

Twice  we  took  a  vote  whether  we 
should  continue  our  march,  or  in 
trench  in  a  good  position  and  await 
patiently  the  enemy  or  the  daylight. 
Once  the  ballot  was  a  tie,  and  only 
by  the  casting  vote  of  our  com 
mander,  Captain  Anderson,  was  it 
decided  to  proceed. 


IV 

A  Siege  and  its  Heroine 

-•b 

THE  population  of  the  region, 
friends  and  foes,  were  now  up 
in  alarm.  Reports  met  us  of 
the  outrages  of  the  Ruffians  upon 
Free  State  settlers  the  night  pre 
vious. 

Here  is  the  story  of  one  of  the 
depredations,  detailed  to  us  at  one 
of  our  halts. 

It  was  upon  a  stanch  old  German 
and  his  family,  settled  near  the  junc 
tion  of  the  North  and  South  branches 
of  the  Pottawatomie.  Old  Kepler, 
as  he  was  nicknamed,  had  not  taken 
any  leading  or  even  active  part  in  the 


36       John  Brown  the  Hero 

"troubles"  (as  they  were  termed), 
but  his  strong  anti-slavery  sentiments 
had  cropped  out  and  were  known  to 
the  enemy. 

They  now  made  directly  for  his 
cabin,  evidently  resolved,  as  the  op 
portunity  might  offer,  to  force  him  to 
declare  himself  for  one  side  or  the 
other.  No  man,  in  fact,  in  those 
days  of  the  Kansas  conflict,  —  par 
tisan,  bitter,  bloody,  —  could  long 
occupy  anything  like  neutral  ground. 
If  one  undertook  to  "  sit  on  the 
fence,"  he  soon  became  a  target  for 
both  parties  and  was  relentlessly  dis 
lodged. 

It  was  not  the  nature  of  the  old 
German  to  dissemble,  when  the  trial 
came.  On  the  approach  of  the  Ruf 
fians  he  prepared  for  the  worst,  as  he 
expected  no  favor.  He  barricaded 
his  cabin  door  and  refused  their  de 
mand  for  admittance.  They  burned 


A  Siege  and  its  Heroine      37 

his  wheat  and  hay  stacks,  and  all  his 
outbuildings,  and  then  called  upon 
the  besieged  to  surrender. 

It  was  believed,  probably  rightly, 
by  the  assailants,  that  the  old  man 
was  possessed  of  considerable  money, 
brought  with  him  from  the  old  coun 
try.  This  lent  incitement  to  their 
attack ;  while,  if  true,  the  fact  was 
undoubtedly  an  additional  motive  on 
his  part  for  keeping  the  invaders  at 
a  distance. 

Brave  old  Kepler  was  quite  ad 
vanced,  in  years.  He  was  about  three 
score  and  ten,  but  all  the  old  valorous 
Teutonic  blood  in  his  veins  was 
aroused,  and  he  prepared  to  resist 
the  spoilers  even  to  the  death,  if 
need  be.  His  wife,  partner  of  his 
New  World  adventures  and  toils,  had 
succumbed  not  long  before  to  the 
frontier  hardships  and  had  passed  on. 
He  had  one  son,  a  chip  of  the  old 


38        John  Brown  the  Hero 

block,  brave,  strong,  and  inured  to 
the  rough  Western  life,  equally  inter 
ested  with  the  father  in  carving  out 
their  fortunes  in  this  new  country, 
and  in  the  making  of  their  Western 
prairie  home. 

And  there  was  an  only  daughter, 
alike  the  support  and  solace  of  both 
father  and  brother ;  —  the  light,  in 
deed,  of  the  household  and  of  the 
neighborhood. 

I  must  interpolate  a  word  here,  in 
passing,  descriptive  of  this  daughter, 
—  the  worthy  heroine  of  the  event, 
as  we  shall  see.  She  was  a  light- 
haired,  blond  -  complexioned  young 
girl,  with  all  the  proverbial  German 
fairness,  —  bright  and  handsome  as 
a  prairie  flower.  And  she  had  the 
German  habit  of  taking  a  share  in 
the  work  in  the  open  field.  Often 
was  she  seen  by  the  passers  up  and 
down  the  creek,  "chopping  in  corn" 


A  Siege  and  its  Heroine      39 

(as  they  call  it  in  the  West),  —  keep 
ing  even  step  in  the  row  with  her 
robust  brother ;  or  now  driving  the 
cattle  while  he  held  the  plough  ;  then 
changing  work  with  him,  guiding  the 
share  while  he  drove  the  oxen. 

Her  household  duties,  however,  were 
not  neglected  meanwhile.  Doubtless 
the  brother,  in  return,  here  gave  her 
a  helping  hand.  Nowhere  else  on 
the  road  (as  the  writer  can  testify 
from  personal  experience)  did  the 
weary  and  hungry  traveler  find  such 
bread  as  when  thrown  upon  the 
Keplers'  hospitality,  —  bread  of  this 
young  girl's  manufacture. 

Besides  all  this,  —  and  appropri 
ately  to  be  said  in  this  connection,  — 
this  fair  maiden  could  handle  a  rifle 
on  occasion,  as  we  shall  presently 
see.  Such  ability  was  often  a  quite 
useful  accomplishment  for  the  gentler 
sex  on  our  wild  Western  border.  It 


40       'John  Brown  the  Hero 

proved  eminently  so  in  the  case  be 
fore  us. 

The  yelling,  hooting,  and  now 
drunken  mob  began  at  length  to  fire 
upon  the  cabin  at  its  vulnerable 
points.  The  heroic  inmates  returned 
the  shots  through  the  holes  between 
the  logs  in  the  loft,  and  not  without 
effect.  One  of  the  assailants  was 
seriously  wounded  and  several  others 
less  so.  The  battle  grew  warm,  the 
effusion  of  blood  thus  far  serving 
only  to  increase  the  wild  fury  of  the 
besiegers. 

The  father  and  son  stood  with 
their  guns  at  the  openings,  while  the 
young  girl  loaded  the  pieces  for  them 
as  fast  as  they  were  emptied.  At 
length  the  baffled  and  maddened 
crowd  changed  their  tactics.  They 
managed  to  pile  wood,  logs,  and  rub 
bish  against  the  cabin,  hoping  to  fire 
the  building.  There  was  danger  that 


A  Siege  and  its  Heroine      41 

the  dastardly  effort  would  prove  only 
too  successful.  The  flames  began  to 
crackle.  All  now  seemed  lost,  when 
suddenly  the  brave  daughter  unbarred 
the  cabin  door  and  sprang  forth  with 
a  bucket  of  water  in  her  hand  to  dash 
out  the  newly  kindled  flames.  This 
was  done  from  the  girl's  own  impulse 
at  the  moment.  Had  they  divined 
her  intention,  the  father  and  brother 
would  not  have  allowed  it.  The  feat, 
however,  strange  to  say,  was  as  suc 
cessful  as  it  was  heroic  and  peril 
ous. 

The  surprised  besiegers  were  not 
actually  cowardly  and  base  enough  to 
fire  upon  the  unarmed,  defenseless 
girl.  However,  one  of  them  sprang 
from  his  covert  behind  a  tree  to  seize 
her.  But  the  old  backwoodsman 
father,  watching  breathlessly  the 
scene  below  from  his  post  in  the 
loft,  —  his  hand  and  eye  steadied  to 


42        John  Brown  the  Hero 

perfect  accuracy  by  the  imminent 
danger,  —  sent  a  rifle-bullet  straight 
to  the  heart  of  the  venturesome 
wretch,  and  he  fell  forward  dead  at 
the  maiden's  feet. 

The  girl  regained  the  door  and, 
with  the  aid  of  her  brother,  who 
hastened  to  her  assistance,  rebarred 
it  securely.  All  was  now  again  safe 
for  the  time  being,  —  and  perma 
nently,  as  it  proved.  The  marauders, 
overawed  by  this  episode  and  by  the 
generally  unexpected  course  of  affairs, 
—  one  of  their  number  being  actually 
killed  and  several  others  more  or  less 
severely  wounded,  —  hastily  fell  back 
to  a  safe  distance  and  finally  beat  a 
retreat  from  the  neighborhood. 


V 
The  March  Resumed 


IT  did  not  require  the  narration  of 
this  stirring  tale  to  nerve  our  for 
ward    movement,   but  it   certainly 
increased   our  determination  to  pro 
ceed  at  all  hazard. 

Our  next  halt  was  made  at  the 
cabin,  some  miles  further  on,  from 
which,  as  mentioned  in  the  first  chap 
ter,  the  young  man  whom  we  all  knew 
and  counted  as  one  of  us  had  been 
borne  off  a  prisoner.  As  soon  as  it 
was  made  known,  by  the  usual  signs, 
that  we  were  friends,  we  were  joy 
fully  if  tearfully  greeted.  The  fam 
ily,  consisting  of  aged  parents,  sister, 


44       John  Brown  the  Hero 

brother's  wife  and  little  children,  were 
in  despair.  Dreadful  anxiety  filled 
their  minds.  It  was  an  illustration 
of  the  saying  that  "  to  know  the  worst 
is  better  than  suspense."  If  in  the 
great  cause  then  firing  their  hearts 
this  family  had  seen  that  son  and 
brother  shot  down  before  their  eyes, 
they  would  have  borne  the  affliction 
silently  and  with  submission.  But 
the  terrible  uncertainty  as  to  his  fate 
wrought  upon  them.  A  price  had 
previously  been  set  upon  the  young 
man's  head,  and  they  had  reason  to 
fear  the  worst  for  him. 

It  must  be  added,  in  passing,  that 
his  beloved  ones  never  saw  him  again 
alive.  The  good  fortune  fell  to  us  to 
liberate  him  the  next  day  from  his 
captors,  when  we  found  him  bound 
upon  his  horse,  with  his  hands  lashed 
behind  him  and  his  feet  tied  together 
under  the  animal ;  but,  alas !  his  lib- 


The  March  Resumed        45 

eration  gave  him  only  a  short  respite 
from  death.  He  fell,  only  a  few  days 
after,  heroically  fighting  at  the  battle 
of  Osawatomie. 

Some  miles  beyond  we  had  to 
make  that  ford  of  the  Pottawatomie 
river  of  unenviable  fame,  and  which 
we  looked  upon  as  the  danger-point 
of  all  others  in  our  journey ;  for  there 
our  enemy,  we  thought,  would  most 
likely  be  in  ambush.  But  we  swam 
the  swift,  dark,  muddy  stream,  swelled 
by  recent  rains  to  a  flood,  with  the 
water  up  to  our  horses'  backs,  luckily 
without  hindrance  or  serious  mishap. 

That  ford  was  the  notorious  Dutch 
Henry's  crossing,  so-called,  —  surely 
a  gloomy,  gruesome,  and  dreaded  spot 
at  that  dark  midnight  hour.  There, 
close  by,  had  been  enacted,  just 
two  months  prior,  the  rightly  named 
Pottawatomie  tragedy,  which  made 
that  locality,  on  account  of  this 


;?  46       y^A»  Brown  the  Hero 

bloody  event,  verily  for  the  time  the 
"  storm  center "  of  the  Kansas  con 
flict.  But,  terrible  as  it  was,  it  served 
a  great  purpose  and  was  speedily 
followed  by  good. 

The  hero  of  our  sketch  was  the 
central  figure  in  this  tragic  act  of  the 
Kansas  drama,  as  he  was  in  most 
others  at  this  trying  period.  Brown 
was  the  cyclonic  force,  the  lightning's 
flash  in  the  darkness,  that  cleared 
and  lighted  the  way  for  the  men  of 
that  day. 

Despite  all  delays  on  the  way,  we 
made  our  forced  night  -  march  of 
twenty-two  or  more  miles  in  remark 
ably  good  time,  and  arrived  at  our 
destination  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  as  weary,  exhausted,  and 
hungry  a  set  of  troopers  as  ever  drew 
rein  and  slipped  stirrup  to  seek  rest 
and  refreshment. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  our  readers 


48        John  Brown  the  Hero 

the  man  who  is  the  principal  subject 
of  these  sketches. 

We  were  challenged  by  friendly 
pickets  on  guard,  who  escorted  us  to 
the  old  "  block-house "  reared  for 
town  defense,  where  we  were  glad  to 
find  shelter,  and  especially  to  find 
food,  for  hungry  we  were  indeed. 

To  what  a  sumptuous  feast  were 
we  welcomed  on  that  occasion  !  And 
yet,  strange  to  relate,  the  recollection 
of  it  is  not  calculated  to  make  one's 
mouth  water.  It  so  happened  that  a 
side  of  bacon  and  a  barrel  of  hard 
tack  were  stored  there,  for  just  such 
emergencies  as  the  present  one,  and 
these  were  now  pressed  into  our 
service. 

Their  edible  condition  was  such  as 
naturally  to  suggest  certain  Scripture 
phrases  as  descriptive  thereof  ;  —  of 
the  bacon,  "  ancient  of  days  ";  and  of 
the  biscuit,  "  fullness  of  life."  As  we 


'The  March  Resumed        49 

crunched  the  latter  between  our  teeth, 
the  peculiar,  fresh,  sweet  -  and  -  bitter 
taste,  commingling  at  every  mouth 
ful,  told  us  too  well  of  the  "  life " 
ensconced  therein.  No  comments 
were  made,  however,  except  the  ejac 
ulation  occasionally,  by  one  and  an 
other,  "  Wormy  !  "  «  Wormy  !  " 

However,  nothing  daunted,  we 
paused  not  in  our  eating  till  our 
ravenous  hunger  was  appeased.  And 
then,  on  the  bare  floor  of  boards, 
rived  roughly  out  of  forest  trees, - 
though  it  was  a  little  difficult  to  fit 
our  forms  to  their  ridges  and  hollows, 
—  we  gained  a  few  hours  of  as  sweet 
and  refreshing  slumber  as  ever  visited 
mortal  eyes. 


VI 
Seeking  the  Enemy 

*•> 

IT  will  be  asked,  perhaps,  why  we 
came  to  this  particular  place.  In 

this  little  town  were  encamped,  at 
this  particular  time,  Captain  John 
Brown  and  his  daring  and  trusty 
band  of  men. 

"  Old  Brown,"  as  he  was  most 
often  called,  was  a  tower  of  strength 
in  time  of  need.  He  had  become  by 
that  time  a  veritable  terror  to  the 
enemy.  Tell  a  Border  Ruffian  : 
"John  Brown  is  coming,"  and  he 
would  shake  in  his  shoes,  or  would 
run  away  had  he  strength  enough  left 


Seeking  the  Enemy  51 

for  locomotion.  Missouri  mothers 
frightened  their  babies  to  sleep  or 
to  quietude  by  the  sound  of  his 
name. 

If  our  information  were  correct, 
the  foe  we  sought  largely  outnum 
bered  us.  What  more  natural  than 
that  we  should,  under  the  circum 
stances,  desire  the  counsel  of  the 
stanch  old  man,  and  his  help,  if 
needed. 

He  had  not  looked  for  an  invasion 
from  the  direction  at  present  threat 
ened,  but  was  daily  expecting  one 
from  another  quarter.  He  detailed 
two  small  companies,  Captain  Shore's 
and  Captain  Cline's,  —  two-thirds  of 
his  own  command,  —  to  join  our 
force ;  then  bade  us  seek  the  enemy, 
with  the  direction,  if  we  found  them 
too  strong  for  us,  to  send  back  word 
to  him,  whereupon  he  would  come 


52        John  Brown  the  Hero 

to  our  aid.  Meanwhile,  he  said,  he 
would  stay  with  the  remainder  of  his 
men  and  guard  the  town. 

We  set  out  in  the  morning,  early 
and  hopefully.  Scouts  with  fleet 
horses  were  dispatched  in  advance, 
and  we  rapidly  followed  after.  Ru 
mors  of  all  wild  and  exaggerated  sorts 
met  us  as  we  went.  First,  it  was 
said,  there  were  three  hundred  of  the 
enemy,  well  armed  and  mounted ; 
then  there  were  five  hundred  men, 
strongly  intrenched  to  receive  our 
attack ;  later,  there  were  a  thousand, 
coming  to  meet  us. 

At  last  we  began  to  be  a  little 
apprehensive,  possibly  a  grain  fright 
ened.  In  the  uncertainty,  a  mes 
senger  was  sent  back  to  Captain 
Brown  to  say  that  probably  we  should 
need  his  help. 

But   we   resolutely   pushed   on,  if 


Seeking  the  Enemy  53 

with  somewhat  slackened  speed.  Pres 
ently  a  scout  returned  bearing  reliable 
tidings.  The  position  and  strength 
of  the  invaders  had  been  quite  accu 
rately  ascertained.  They  were  about 
three  hundred  in  number,  quietly 
encamped,  and  as  yet  unaware  of  our 
approach. 

Our  officers  decided  not  to  wait  for 
Captain  Brown  to  come  up,  but  to 
press  forward  to  the  attack  and  by 
celerity  of  movement  gain  what  ad 
vantage  was  possible. 

One  point  was,  nevertheless,  taken 
into  consideration.  We  were  but 
about  sixty  in  number,  all  told.  We 
were  prepared  and  determined  to  do 
some  hard  fighting  if  necessary ;  but, 
it  was  argued,  if  we  could  take  the 
enemy  by  surprise,  victory  would  be 
more  fully  assured  us,  and  much 
needless  spilling  of  blood  might  be 
avoided. 


54        John  Brown  the  Hero 

We  therefore  proceeded  cautiously 
till  we  arrived  within  two  miles  of 
the  hostile  force,  where  our  advanced 
scouts  had  taken  up  position  and  were 
actually  looking  down  with  spy-glasses 
into  the  enemy's  camp  and  watching 
their  every  movement.  The  foe 
seemed  wholly  unconscious  of  any 
impending  danger. 


VII 
The  Battle 


IN  less  time  than  it  takes  to  relate 
it,  the  plan  of  battle  was  arranged. 

Our  men  were  divided  into  three 
companies.  Two  divisions  were  to 
make  flank  movements,  one  on  the 
right  and  the  other  on  the  left  of  the 
foe,  while  the  third  was  to  assault 
directly  in  front.  The  plan  of  attack 
was  well  conceived  and  as  success 
fully  executed. 

We  had  a  circuit  of  some  miles  to 
make  to  gain  the  flank  positions.  It 
was  quickly  and  silently  traveled.  In 
our  division,  detailed  on  the  left  flank, 
hardly  a  word  was  spoken  during  a 


56        John  Brown  the  Hero 

two  hours'  march.  Each  man  was 
busy  with  his  own  thoughts.  It  is 
said  that  persons  in  critical  situations 
will  sometimes  have  their  whole  lives 
pass  before  them.  I  believe  that 
most  of  us,  during  this  march,  re 
called  nearly  all  we  had  ever  done 
or  seen,  known  or  felt. 

We  were  suddenly  awakened,  at 
length,  from  such  reveries,  by  the 
crack  of  rifles  and  the  clash  of  mus 
ketry,  and  by  bullets  actually  whiz 
zing  about  our  ears.  So  closely  had 
we  stolen  the  march  on  them  that 
when  we  opened  fire  we  were  actually 
more  in  danger  from  the  guns  of  our 
friends  than  from  those  of  our  foes. 

The  enemy  were  taken  completely 
by  surprise.  As  prisoners  whom  we 
took  told  us  afterward,  they  thought 
that  "  Old  Brown  "  was  surely  upon 
them  ;  and  their  next  and  only 
thought  was  of  escape.  They  left 


The  Battle  57 

all,  and  ran  for  dear  life,  some  on 
foot,  shoeless  and  hatless ;  others 
springing  to  their  horses,  and,  even 
without  bridle  or  saddle,  desperately 
making  the  trial  of  flight.  Perfectly 
bewildered,  they  ran  this  way  and 
that  ;  and  naturally,  as  our  forces 
were  positioned,  many  ran  directly 
into  our  hands. 

The  one  thing  they  did  not  do  well 
was  to  fight,  except  in  the  case  of  a 
few  desperate  ones  and  of  the  leaders, 
who  called  in  vain  upon  their  men  to 
rally.  Then  they  gave  up  all  for 
lost,  and  each  looked  out  for  himself. 
Many  discharged  their  pieces  at  the 
first  onslaught,  but  so  much  at  ran 
dom  that  not  a  man  of  our  number 
was  fatally  injured,  though  several 
were  more  or  less  severely  wounded. 
We  took  many  prisoners,  and  cap 
tured  some  thirty  horses,  all  the 
enemy's  wagons  and  luggage,  and 


58        John  Brown  the  Hero 

much  ammunition    and    arms.      The 
victory  was  complete. 

Not  until  all  was  over  did  Captain 
Brown  and  his  reserve  come  up, 
though  they  had  ridden  hard  to  lend 
us  a  helping  hand.  He  warmly  con 
gratulated  us,  however,  upon  our  good 
success,  saying  that  he  could  not  have 
done  it  better  himself,  and  that  he 
was  just  as  glad  and  proud  of  our 
victory  as  though  he  had  won  it. 


VIII 
A  Scene  for  a  Painter 


THERE  were  incidents  not  a  few, 
connected  with  the  day  and  with 
the  central  figure  of  our  sketch, 
which  would  add  interest  to  our  pages. 
One  there  was  which  especially  im 
pressed  itself  upon  all  witnesses  of 
it. 

This  relates  to  one  of  the  enemy 
who  was  fatally  wounded  in  the 
battle.  He  desired  very  much,  he 
said,  to  see  "  Old  Brown  "  before  he 
died. 

Captain  Brown  was  informed  of 
the  wish,  whereupon  he  rode  up  to 
the  wagon  which  served  as  ambulance, 


60       John  Brown  the  Hero 

and,  with  somewhat  of  sternness  in 
his  manner,  said  to  the  prisoner, 
"  You  wish  to  see  me.  Here  I  am. 
Take  a  good  look  at  me,  and  tell 
your  friends,  when  you  get  back  to 
Missouri,  what  sort  of  man  I  am." 

Then  he  added  in  a  gentler  tone, 
"  We  wish  no  harm  to  you  or  to  your 
companions.  Stay  at  home,  let  us 
alone,  and  we  shall  be  friends.  I 
wish  you  well." 

The  prisoner  meanwhile  had  raised 
himself  with  great  difficulty,  and 
viewed  the  old  man  from  head  to 
foot  as  if  feasting  his  eyes  on  a  great 
curiosity.  Then  he  sank  back,  pale 
and  exhausted,  as  he  answered,  "I 
don't  see  as  you  are  so  bad.  You 
don't  talk  like  it." 

The  countenance  of  Brown  as  he 
viewed  the  sufferer  had  changed  to  a 
look  of  commiseration.  The  wounded 
man  saw  it,  and,  reaching  out  his 


A  Scene  for  a  Painter       61 

hand,  said,  "  I  thank  you."  Brown 
tenderly  clasped  it,  and  replied,  "  God 
bless  you,"  while  he  turned  with 
tears  in  his  eyes  and  rode  away. 

The  present  writer  was  standing 
within  a  few  feet  of  Brown  at  the 
time,  and  naturally  drank  in  the  scene 
with  a  boy's  eager  curiosity  and  sus 
ceptibility  to  impression. 

It  was  a  scene  for  a  painter,  and 
the  artist  could  with  appropriateness 
have  called  his  work,  "  The  Conqueror 
Conquered." 

But  it  was  perfectly  illustrative  of 
the  man  and  of  the  hero.  Brown 
was  as  brave  as  a  lion.  He  seemed 
absolutely  not  to  know  fear.  Yet 
withal  he  possessed  a  heart  tender 
as  a  child's  or  as  the  tenderest 
woman's. 


IX 

Brown's  Night  Appointment 

-*> 

WE  gathered  together  the  spoils 
and  took  up  our  march  on 
the  backward  track  toward 
home,  discussing  the  exciting  events 
of  the  day  and  recounting  to  each 
other  our  individual  experiences,  ad 
ventures,  and  "  hairbreadth  escapes." 
When  we  had  thus  proceeded  some 
three  miles,  it  was  nearing  sundown, 
and  we  halted  for  supper  and  to  de 
termine  our  course  for  the  night. 

Meanwhile  we  had  learned  an 
important  fact  from  our  prisoners, 
namely  :  that  we  had  not  met  all  of 
our  enemies.  A  part  of  them,  quite 


Brown's  Night  Appointment     63 

a  large  force,  had  gone  north  that 
morning,  and  might  be  at  that  very 
moment  ravaging  our  own  homes 
which  we  had  left  behind  the  evening 
before.  Naturally,  these  unwelcome 
tidings  cast  a  cloud  across  our  rejoic 
ings.  They  might  after  all  be  turned 
to  mourning ! 

Having  nearly  finished  our  meal, 
and  while  we  were  yet  speculating  on 
the  situation,  Captain  Brown  hastily 
rose  to  his  feet  and  called  upon  all 
those,  who  were  ready  to  go  with  him, 
to  mount  their  horses.  Forty  or 
more  men  instantly  sprang  into  their 
saddles,  and  others  were  about  to  do 
the  same,  when  the  old  man  cried, 
"  Enough  —  and  too  many."  He 
thanked  them  for  their  readiness,  and 
then  selected  thirty  of  the  number, 
tried  and  trusted  men  who  had  fol 
lowed  him  before,  and  without  asking 
why  or  whither.  In  the  present  in- 


64       John  Brown  the  Hero 

stance  also  they  ventured  not  a  ques 
tion. 

Brown  seldom  disclosed  his  inten 
tion  or  plans  to  any  one.  He  wished 
no  man  with  him  who  was  not  ab 
solutely  reliable.  He  required  the 
implicit  confidence  of  his  followers 
and  unquestioning  obedience  to  his 
commands.  Whoever  put  himself 
under  his  leadership  took  his  life  in 
his  hand  and  followed  whithersoever 
he  was  led. 

On  this  occasion  some  not  ac 
quainted  with  his  habits  plied  him 
with  queries  as  to  where  he  was  going 
and  what  he  would  do.  He  only 
answered,  characteristically,  that  he 
"  had  an  appointment  with  some 
Missourians  and  must  not  disappoint 
them."  One  ventured  jocosely  to 
ask  further,  concerning  the  appointed 
place  of  meeting.  He  replied,  they 
had  not  been  kind  enough  to  fix  upon 


Brown's  Night  Appointment     65 

the  precise  spot,  but  he  felt  bound, 
out  of  courtesy,  inasmuch  as  they 
came  from  a  distance,  to  hold  himself 
in  readiness  when  wanted.  This  left 
us,  of  course,  wholly  in  the  dark  as 
to  his  movements. 

With  some  words  of  advice  to 
those  of  us  remaining,  —  that  we 
would  better  seek  our  homes,  be 
prepared  to  defend  them,  and  ready 
for  any  action  when  needed,  —  he 
gave  the  command,  "  Ready  !  For 
ward  !  "  and,  with  a  wave  of  his 
hand,  led  his  Knights  Errant  away. 

After  they  had  departed  it  was 
decided  that  it  would  be  advisible  for 
us  to  return  to  the  camping-ground 
of  the  enemy  and  pitch  our  tents 
there  for  the  night ;  because,  it  was 
argued,  when  the  detached  force  gone 
north  returned,  they  would  naturally 
seek  their  friends  in  the  camp  where 
they  left  them. 


66        John  Brown  the  Hero 

Accordingly,  though  weary  near  to 
exhaustion,  we  returned  and  camped 
there,  threw  out  our  pickets,  and 
made  every  preparation  to  give  the 
marauders  a  warm  reception  should 
they  appear.  We  slept  on  our  arms, 
ready  for  any  emergency,  but  the 
night  passed  and  we  were  undis 
turbed. 

The  next  morning  dawned  on  us 
clear  and  beautiful.  All  our  appre 
hensions  of  danger  had  passed  with 
the  darkness.  Our  pickets  were  with 
drawn.  The  scouts,  who  had  been 
sent  out  to  gather  news  of  the  scat 
tered  settlers,  had  come  back  with  no 
tidings  of  the  foe  we  had  awaited. 
Consequently,  relieved  of  all  military 
restraint,  we  gave  ourselves  up  for 
the  time  to  the  preparation  and  en 
joyment  of  an  early  breakfast. 

The  wagons  were  unpacked  of 
their  provisions.  The  horses  were 


Brown's  Night  Appointment     67 

picketed,  or  were  turned  loose  for 
grazing.  The  prisoners,  disarmed, 
were  allowed  comparative  freedom. 
Fires  were  lighted  here  and  there  for 
cooking.  And  thus  we  were  spread 
out  over  a  large  area,  forgetful  of 
the  enemy,  without  a  thought  of  an 
attack,  and  bent  only  on  making 
ready  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of 
hunger. 


An  Intrepid  Charge 


THEN  occurred  the  scene  which 
gives  us  one  of  the  glimpses  of 
John   Brown    for    the   sake    of 
which  these  reminiscences  have  been 
written. 

Suddenly,  over  the  hill  or  rising 
ground  some  half  or  third  of  a  mile 
away,  two  horsemen  came  up  at  full 
speed. 

"  Look  !  look  !  "  was  whispered  in 
suppressed  voices  from  one  to  another 
of  our  party,  and  all  eyes  were  up 
turned  in  that  direction. 

Observing    us,    the    horsemen    as 


An  Intrepid  Charge          69 

suddenly  turned  on  their  heels,  and 
disappeared  the  way  they  came,  leav 
ing  us  stupefied  with  doubt  and 
wonder. 

In  a  moment  more,  however,  the 
heads  of  a  whole  troop  rose  in  sight, 
and  the  cry,  "  The  Missourians ! 
the  Missourians!"  rang  through  our 
camp  in  startling  accents. 

We  were  in  dismay,  for  we  were 
entirely  unprepared  for  attack  and 
there  was  no  time  to  make  ready. 
We  were  apparently  caught  just  as 
our  enemy  had  been  surprised  by 
ourselves.  Men  sprang,  some  for 
their  arms,  some  for  their  horses. 
Whether  to  fight  or  to  try  to  escape 
was  uppermost  in  their  minds,  —  each 
could  settle  that  question  only  for 
himself.  At  any  rate,  every  one  felt 
that  a  daring  and  determined  foe, 
apparently  numbering  a  hundred, 
which  was  double  our  own  number, 


jo       John  Brown  the  Hero 

could,  in  the  condition  in  which  we 
were,  utterly  cut  us  to  pieces  and 
destroy  us  at  a  blow. 

What  grave  emotions  that  thought 
aroused !  It  is  difficult  for  one, 
never  thrown  into  any  such  situation, 
to  realize  or  in  any  degree  even  im 
agine  the  feelings  that  may  surge 
through  the  bosom  of  men  thus 
placed.  Accounts  have  been  given 
of  what  panic-stricken  crowds  or 
armies  will  sometimes  do,  but  a 
description  of  what  they  feel  on 
such  occasions  of  disaster  was  never 
yet  fully  penned  or  painted  by 
man. 

Meanwhile,  some  of  our  number, 
who  had  been  cool  enough  to  observe 
the  fiercely  advancing  cavaliers,  per 
ceived  that  they  were  friends,  not 
foes.  It  was  old  Captain  Brown 
himself  and  his  trusty  band.  With 
joy,  this  news  rang  through  our 


An  Intrepid  Charge          71 

ranks.  All  eyes  were  then  directed 
toward  them,  enchained  and  en 
chanted.  It  was  a  splendid  sight. 

They  at  first,  naturally,  took  us 
for  enemies,  not  dreaming  but  that 
we  were  miles  away,  where  they  left 
us  the  evening  before.  They  sus 
pected  us  to  be  the  force,  encamped 
there,  which  they  had  been  riding  all 
night  to  overtake,  —  the  same  force 
we  had  awaited. 

They  came  swiftly  up  over  the 
brow  of  the  hill,  in  full  view,  with 
Brown  at  their  head,  and,  without 
halting  or  even  slackening  their 
speed,  swung  into  line  of  battle. 
Only  thirty  men  !  yet  they  presented 
a  truly  formidable  array.  The  line 
was  formed  two  deep,  and  was 
stretched  out  to  give  the  men  full 
room  for  action.  Brown  sprang  his 
horse  in  front  of  the  ranks,  waving 
his  long  broadsword,  and  on  they 


ji       John  Brown  the  Hero 

came,  sweeping  down  upon  us  with 
irresistible  fury. 

It  was  indeed  a  splendid  and  fear 
ful  sight,  never  to  be  forgotten  by 
the  beholders.  Only  thirty  men  ! 
yet  they  seemed  a  host.  In  their 
every  action,  in  their  entire  move 
ments,  seemed  emblazoned,  as  in 
their  determined  souls  it  was  written, 
"  Victory  or  death  !" 

Their  leader  looked  the  very  im 
personation  of  Battle.  Many  of  us 
had  seen  John  Brown  before,  some 
of  us  a  number  of  times,  and  under 
trying  circumstances.  But  now  all 
felt  that  the  real  man  we  had  never 
before  beheld.  The  daring,  the  in 
trepidity,  the  large  resources  of  the 
man,  none  of  us  had  imagined  till 
that  moment. 

Not  a  gun  was  discharged,  their 
commander  having  given  to  his  men 
the  same  strict  orders  that  were 


An  Intrepid  Charge          73 

given  at  Bunker  Hill  of  old,  that 
they  should  "reserve  their  fire  till 
they  could  see  the  whites  of  their 
enemy's  eyes."  But  before  they 
had  quite  gained  that  very  danger 
ous  proximity  to  us,  we  succeeded 
in  making  them  understand  that  we 
were  their  friends. 

Then  such  a  glad  shout  as  rent 
the  air  from  both  sides  was  seldom 
ever  heard,  we  believe,  on  any  field 
even  of  victory.  They  were  as  glad 
to  find  that  we  were  their  friends, 
as  we,  in  our  helpless  condition,  were 
glad  to  learn  that  they  were  not  our 
enemies. 

The  full  intrepidity  of  Brown  and 
his  men,  though  it  appeared  to  us 
astounding,  was  not  fully  appreciable 
till  we  came  to  look  at  it  somewhat 
from  their  own  view-point. 

We  were  actually  about  eighty 
men,  prisoners  and  all.  But,  spread 


74       John  Brown  the  Hero 

out  as  we  were,  with  the  many 
horses  grazing,  the  scattered  and 
unpacked  wagons,  numerous  camp- 
fires,  —  widely  separated  for  con 
venience,  —  arms  stacked  in  some 
places,  and  men  gathered  in  groups 
in  others,  we  presented  altogether  a 
formidable  appearance.  What  was 
more,  this  was  enhanced  by  our 
peculiar  position,  so  that,  to  them, 
our  numbers  and  strength  were  ex 
aggerated,  while  our  weakness  and 
confusion  were  concealed.  Brown 
admitted  to  us  himself,  afterward, 
that  he  thought  he  was  undertaking 
to  whip  a  force  of  two  or  three  hun 
dred,  while  his  men  declared  that 
they  believed  they  were  actually 
charging  upon  not  less  than  a  thou 
sand. 

Brown's  quick  military  eye  took  in, 
at  the  first,  the  supposed  situation; 
and,  as  in  a  flash,  he  decided  what  to 


An  Intrepid  Charge         75 

do.  All  depended,  he  concluded,  upon 
rapidity  of  action.  His  only  hope 
lay  in  striking  a  sudden  and  crush 
ing  blow,  for  which  we  were  unpre 
pared,  and  from  which  we  could  not 
recover  till  he  had  made  victory  sure. 
From  the  time  Brown's  forces  came 
in  sight  over  the  hill,  till  they  were 
within  gunshot  of  us,  hardly  thirty 
seconds  elapsed,  —  a  very  short  notice 
in  which  to  prepare  for  action,  even 
if  an  attack  were  expected. 


XI 
Brown  to  Our  Prisoners 


AFTER  mutual  congratulations 
over  the  bloodless  and  happy 
conclusion  of  the  adventure,  we 
set  our  friends  down  with  us  to  eat  the 
interrupted  breakfast,  to  which  they 
were  prepared  to  do  ample  justice. 
They  had  ridden  all  night,  some  forty 
or  fifty  miles,  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
—  had  ridden  all  night,  without  rest  or 
food,  from  the  time  they  left  us,  at  dusk 
of  evening,  till  they  surprised  us  that 
morning  with  their  dauntless  charge. 

Another  incident  in  connection 
with  the  events  described  it  seems 
fitting  to  mention,  as  affording  a  very 


Brown  to  Our  Prisoners      77 

interesting  side-glance  at  the  charac 
ter  of  our  hero.  After  the  meal, 
Captain  Brown  was  asked  by  our 
officers  to  give  a  talk  to  the  prisoners 
taken  the  day  before,  who  were  now 
drawn  up  in  line  for  parole.  He 
responded  without  an  instant's  hes 
itation  or  a  moment  to  think  what 
he  should  say. 

He  spoke  to  them  in  a  plain,  sim 
ple,  unpretentious  way,  but  with  a 
directness,  a  force,  and  an  eloquence 
withal,  which  doubtless  wonderfully 
impressed  those  addressed,  as  cer 
tainly  it  held  spell-bound  all  others 
who  listened.  Such  vivid  and  in 
delible  impression  did  this  speech 
of  Brown  make  on  the  mind  of  the 
present  writer  that,  even  after  the 
lapse  of  these  many  years,  he  is  able 
to  reproduce  it,  not  only  in  sub 
stance,  but  almost  word  for  word  ; 
and  he  has  no  doubt  of  its  excep- 


7  8        John  Brown  the  Hero 

tional  character.  Perhaps  it  was 
second  only  to  that  immortal  address 
which  the  hero  made  three  years 
later  to  the  court  at  his  trial  in 
Virginia,  which  Emerson  pronounced 
one  of  the  three  most  remarkable 
addresses  in  the  world. 

On  the  latter  occasion,  however, 
instead  of  a  few  plain,  simple,  rough 
and  ready,  but  intensely  admiring 
followers,  he  had  almost  the  whole 
civilized  world  eagerly  to  hear  and 
sacredly  to  preserve  his  utterance. 

Brown's  speech  to  the  prisoners 
was  probably  not  over  five  minutes 
long  in  its  delivery,  but  it  lasted 
those  forty  trembling  men  a  lifetime. 
It  was  not  known  that  one  of  them 
ever  afterward  ventured  over  the 
Missouri  border  into  the  Kansas 
territory. 

The  address  was  as  follows  : 


Brown  to  Our  Prisoners      79 

"  Men  of  Missouri,  one  of  your 
number  has  asked  to  see  John  Brown. 
Here  he  is.  Look  at  him,  and  here 
after  remember  that  he  is  the  enemy 
of  all  evil-doers. 

"  And  what  of  you  yourselves, 
men  !  You  are  from  a  neighboring 
State.  What  are  you  here  for  ?  You 
are  invaders  of  this  territory,  —  and 
for  evil  purposes,  you  know  as  well 
as  we  know.  You  have  been  killing 
our  men,  terrorizing  our  women  and 
children,  and  destroying  our  property, 
—  houses,  crops,  and  animals.  So 
you  stand  here  as  criminals. 

"  You  are  fighting  for  slavery. 
You  want  to  make  or  keep  other 
people  slaves.  Do  you  not  know  that 
your  wicked  efforts  will  end  in  mak 
ing  slaves  of  yourselves  ?  You  come 
here  to  make  this  a  slave  State.  You 
are  fighting  against  liberty,  which  our 
Revolutionary  fathers  fought  to  estab- 


8o       John  Brown  the  Hero 

lish  in  this  Republic,  where  all  men 
should  be  free  and  equal,  with  the 
inalienable  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.  Therefore, 
you  are  traitors  to  liberty  and  to  your 
country,  of  the  worst  kind,  and  de 
serve  to  be  hung  to  the  nearest 
tree. 

"  But  we  shall  not  touch  a  hair 
of  your  heads.  Have  no  fear.  You 
are  deluded  men.  You  have  been 
deceived  by  men  who  are  your  elders 
but  not  your  betters.  You  have 
been  misled  into  this  wrong,  by 
those  your  leaders ;  thus,  they  are 
the  real  criminals  and  worse  than 
traitors,  and,  if  we  had  them  here 
instead  of  you,  they  would  not  find 
such  mercy  at  our  hands. 

"  You  we  forgive.  For,  as  you 
yourselves  have  confessed,  we  believe 
it  can  be  said  of  you  that,  as  was  said 
of  them  of  old,  you  being  without 


Brown  to  Our  Prisoners      81 

knowledge,  'you  know  not  what  you 
do.'  But  hereafter  you  will  be  with 
out  excuse. 

"  Go  in  peace.  Go  home  and  tell 
your  neighbors  and  friends  of  your 
mistake.  We  deprive  you  only  of 
your  arms,  and  do  that  only  lest  some 
of  you  are  not  yet  converted  to  the 
right.  We  let  you  go  free  of  pun 
ishment  this  time ;  but,  do  we  catch 
you  over  the  border  again  commit 
ting  depredations,  you  must  not  ex 
pect,  nor  will  you  receive,  any  mercy. 

"  Go  home,  and  become  liberty- 
loving  citizens  of  your  State  and 
country,  and  your  mistakes  and  mis 
deeds,  as  also  the  injuries  which  you 
have  inflicted  upon  us,  will  not  have 
been  in  vain." 


XII 
Hard  Lines 


THE    personal    experiences    here 
related  are  of  interest  and  have 
a  value  mainly  as  they  throw 
somewhat    of    fresh    light    upon    the 
character  of  the  subject  of  this  work, 
Captain  Brown,  and  upon  the  events 
and  times  in  which  he  was  the  leading 
actor. 

Those  were  troublous  times,  - 
times  that  indeed  "  tried  the  men's 
souls  "  who  experienced  them.  The 
hardships  were  severe.  Danger  and 
disease,  death  by  ruthless  hands,  and 
even  death  from  starvation,  often 
stared  us  in  the  face.  At  one  time 


Hard  Lines  83 

we  lived  six  weeks  solely  on  Indian- 
meal  mixed  with  water  and  dried 
before  the  fire,  and  that  without  even 
a  condiment.  This  was  our  common 
fare  in  times  of  scarcity.  Bacon  and 
molasses,  and  tea  without  milk  or 
sugar,  were  our  luxuries  in  times  of 
plenty. 

For  months,  in  the  summer  of  '56, 
the  men  in  our  settlement  never  had 
their  clothes  off,  day  or  night,  unless 
torn  or  worn  off.  On  a  trip  early  in 
the  summer  mentioned,  made  by  a 
companion  and  myself  to  Kansas 
City  for  provisions,  we  chanced  to 
come  across  John  Brown  and  his 
company  encamped  in  the  woods  on 
a  river-bank.  After  we  made  our 
selves  known  as  friends  we  were 
invited  into  their  camp.  A  more 
ragged  set  of  men  than  we  found 
were  rarely,  we  believe,  ever  seen, 
—  Brown  worst  off  of  all,  for  he 


84       John  Brown  the  Hero 

would  not  fare  better  than  his  men. 
They  had  no  shirts  to  their  backs, 
and  their  outer  clothing  was  worn 
or  torn  to  tatters.  While  in  camp, 
they  were  going  barefoot  to  save  the 
remnants  of  their  worn-out  shoes  for 
emergencies.  And  withal,  they  were, 
they  said,  on  short  rations,  having 
no  bread,  but  only  Indian-meal  and 
water.  They  were  glad  of  the  op 
portunity  to  engage  us  to  bring  them 
provisions  on  our  return,  but  they 
confessed  they  were  as  short  of 
money  as  they  were  of  provisions, 
which  simply  meant  that  we  must 
share  ours  with  them. 

The  men  of  our  company  worked 
hard  by  day  to  raise  crops,  with  their 
rifles  near  at  hand,  and  slept  in  the 
"  bush "  at  night  to  avoid  surprise 
and  capture  in  their  cabins.  Only 
the  women  and  children  ran  the  risk 
of  remaining  in  the  houses,  in  their 


Hard  Lines  85 

defenselessness  trusting  to  the  mercy 
of  the  enemy.  That  border  life  invited 
sickness,  especially  the  malaria  of  the 
low  prairie.  Our  cabins  were  roughly 
made,  and  so  open  that  when  it  rained 
it  was  about  as  wet  inside  of  them  as 
outside. 

We  had  not  time  to  dig  wells,  and 
in  mid-summer  the  rivers  were  low 
and  the  water  so  stagnant  that  we 
had  to  brush  the  green  scum  from 
the  surface  when  we  dipped  the  water 
to  drink  or  for  other  uses.  Every 
man,  woman,  and  child  of  the  settle 
ment  was  ill  with  the  "  fever  and 
ague,"  so  termed.  There  came  near 
being  an  exception  to  the  rule.  One 
man  kept  so  full  of  whiskey,  contin 
uously,  that  the  ague  didn't  seem  to 
have  even  a  fighting  chance ;  but  at 
length  the  liquor  fell  short,  and  the 
ague  then  found  its  opportunity  and 
even  made  up  for  lost  time. 


86       John  Brown  the  Hero 

As  for  fire-arms  with  which  to 
defend  ourselves,  we  were  not  well 
off.  The  famous  Sharpe's  rifles  — 
"  Beecher's  Bibles,"  so-called,  from 
the  great  preacher's  contribution  of 
them  —  won  Kansas  to  freedom  in 
large  measure ;  but  more  by  their 
terrible  name  than  by  virtue  of  any 
large  number  of  the  weapons  them 
selves.  The  Free  State  men  in 
Kansas  actually  had  few  of  them. 

When  my  older  brother,  with  whom 
I  went  to  the  territory,  and  myself 
called  on  Theodore  Parker  in  Boston, 
—  for  one  thing  to  ask  him  if  those 
going  to  Kansas  would  be  helped  to 
fire-arms,  —  he  said  he  was  sorry  that 
his  previous  contributions  had  left 
him  "nary  red"  which  he  could  give 
for  the  purpose,  and  he  referred 
us  to  the  Aid  Society.  We  con 
cluded,  however,  to  depend  on  our 
own  means,  though  slender,  and  so 


Hard  Lines  87 

bought,  to  use  between  us,  one 
Sharpe's  rifle  for  twenty-five  dollars. 
We  thought  it  might  be  useful  to  bring 
down  prairie  hens  and  wild  turkeys, 
if  not  needed  for  more  serious  use. 

This  was  the  only  Sharpe's  rifle 
owned  in  our  settlement  of  thirty-six 
men  and  youth  able  to  bear  arms. 
The  members  of  our  company,  in 
fact,  at  this  early  period  in  the 
Kansas  troubles  of  which  we  write, 
were  very  slimly  accoutered  for  war 
fare,  and  the  writer  actually  went  into 
the  battle  of  Sugar  Mound,  described 
in  previous  pages,  with  an  old,  worn- 
out  flint-lock  rifle,  being  a  boy  put  off 
with  the  poorest  weapon,  which,  with 
the  greatest  care,  he  could  not  dis 
charge  more  than  once  in  a  half- 
dozen  times'  trying.  And  it  was  the 
only  weapon  he  had  until  he  made 
prisoner  a  Missourian  and  possessed 
himself  of  better  arms. 


XIII 
A   Government  Musket 


WHAT  does  the  reader  suppose 
these  arms  were  ?  The  one 
of  interest  was  a  United 
States  army  musket,  altered  over  from 
a  "flint-lock"  to  a  modern  "  percussion- 
cap," —  a  very  effective  fire-arm.  It 
will  be  seen  that  we  had  to  contend 
not  only  with  the  Border  Ruffian,  but 
with  the  greater  ruffian  at  that  time 
behind  him,  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  itself,  which  was  covertly  lending 
its  influence  and  even  its  arms  on  the 
side  of  slavery.  Those  Government 
guns  were  stored  at  Fort  Scott,  on 
the  Missouri  border,  and  the  Pro- 


A  Government  Musket       89 

slavery  men  were  allowed  to  help 
themselves  to  them. 

That  Government  musket  I  in 
tended  to  keep  as  a  souvenir  of 
Kansas  times ;  but  later,  on  the 
occasion  of  coming  down  the  Mis 
souri  river,  when  boarding  the  steam 
boat  with  this  musket  in  a  common 
gun-case,  I  thoughtlessly,  on  enter 
ing  the  main  saloon,  stood  it  in  a 
conspicuous  corner.  It  was  soon 
afterward  noticed,  —  "  spotted,"  as 
the  phrase  went,  —  and  I  heard  some 
one  whisper,  "  Kansas."  A  rough- 
looking  passenger  approached  the 
piece,  removed  its  case  in  examining 
it,  and  inquired  in  a  loud  voice  for 
its  owner.  Everybody  was  now  all 
interest.  It  was  a  time  when  the 
Kansas  excitement  was  at  its  height, 
and  passions  ran  wild. 

The  cry,  "  Yankee  !  Yankee  !  " 
burst  from  the  crowd.  "Overboard 


90       John  Brown  the  Hero 

with  him  !  Overboard  !  Overboard  !  " 
was  howled,  and  "  Yankee  !  Yankee  !  " 
again  rang  out  in  hot,  angry  tones. 

The  subject  of  these  gentle  re 
marks,  it  goes  without  saying,  was 
surely  one  of  the  most  interested 
spectators  of  the  scene  of  all  the 
members  of  the  crowd,  and,  as  was 
quite  politic,  joined  in  the  outcries. 
The  odds  seemed  to  be  decidedly 
against  him,  and  dissent  was  surely 
unwise.  Apparently  there  was  not 
another  Eastern  man  on  board,  and 
this  one  felt  —  as  once  a  Western 
man  said  he  did  when  expecting  to 
be  lynched  by  a  howling  mob — "a 
little  lonesome."  Very  fortunately 
for  him,  no  one  observed  that  he  was 
in  any  way  connected  with  the  inter 
esting  implement  of  warfare.  Had 
it  been  discovered  that  he  was  the 
owner  of  that  musket,  —  well !  he 
would  probably  not  be  here  now  to 


A  Government  Musket       91 

tell  his  story.  If  the  possessor  of 
it,  on  the  contrary,  had  proved  to 
be  a  "  Pro-slavery "  from  the  terri 
tory,  he  would  immediately  have 
been  lionized  as  a  hero. 

"All's  well  that  ends  well."  The 
only  matter  of  regret  to  the  owner 
was  that  he  lost  sight  and  possession 
forever,  that  troublous  night,  of  his 
souvenir  musket.  It  was  secretly 
made  away  with  by  some  one's  hands, 
under  cover  of  the  darkness. 

An  incident  in  the  story  of  the 
musket  we  may  here  relate,  on  ac 
count  of  its  probable  significance, 
not  apparent  at  that  time,  but  re 
vealed  at  a  later  date. 

As  we  were  making  our  way 
leisurely  from  the  battlefield  at  Sugar 
Mound,  the  opportunity  was  afforded 
me  to  show  Captain  Brown  my  share 
of  the  trophies  of  our  recent  victory. 
He  seemed  rather  indifferent  as  he 


92        John  Brown  the  Hero 

looked  at  the  revolvers,  the  fine 
powder-horn,  the  shot-bag,  and  the 
cartridge-pouch  ;  but  when  he  caught 
sight  of  the  musket  he  grasped  it 
eagerly  and  scrutinized  it  with  intense 
interest.  On  the  gun-stock  was  in 
scribed  :  "  Made  at  the  U.  S.  Armory, 
Harper's  Ferry,  Va.," — or  words  to 
that  effect. 

When,  three  years  later,  occurred 
that  startling  episode  in  our  history 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  Brown's  scrutiny 
of  the  musket  was  recalled  by  me 
and  apparently  found  its  explanation. 
It  raises  the  question,  How  long  had 
he  contemplated  carrying  the  war 
into  Africa  ? 

In  Brown's  view,  slavery  was  war, 
aggressive  and  in  actual  operation. 
Therefore,  any  attack  on  the  institu 
tion  was  virtually  defensive  warfare, 
legitimate  and  justifiable.  He  was 
a  worshiper,  heart  and  soul,  at  lib- 


A  Government  Musket       93 

erty's  shrine,  and  to  his  mind  no 
sacrifice  in  its  cause  was  too  great  or 
costly.  In  that  light  must  be  inter 
preted  his  hard  saying :  "  It  would 
be  better  that  a  whole  generation  of 
men,  women,  and  children  should  be 
sacrificed  than  have  liberty  perish 
from  the  earth." 


XIV 
An  Unfailing  Guide 

HPS 

THE  youngest  male  member  of 
our  Kansas  party,  hardly  more 
than  a  boy,  was  possessor  of 
a  peculiar  psychical  faculty  —  very 
fortunately  for  us  during  all  our 
troublous  experiences  in  the  terri 
tory.  It  was  a  modest  gift,  but  an 
exceedingly  useful  one  to  us  under 
the  exceptional  circumstances  in 
which  we  often  found  ourselves,  and 
this  not  alone  to  its  owner,  but  to  the 
whole  company.  It  cannot  be  better 
designated,  in  brief,  than  as  the  fac 
ulty  of  "  finding  the  way,"  the  term 
usually  employed  in  speaking  of  it. 


An   Unfailing  Guide          95 

It  probably  will,  not  lessen  the 
interest  of  the  reader  in  the  matter 
if  he  is  here  told  that  the  writer  of 
this  account  himself  was  the  happy 
possessor  of  this  useful  power.  From 
a  boy,  a  mere  child,  he  may  say,  it 
was  known  among  his  playmates 
that  he  could  lead  them  safely  and 
surely  to  any  place  or  object,  when 
there  was  doubt  about  its  locality, 
and  could  also  discover  the  where 
abouts  of  things  lost.  The  shyness 
of  the  boy  led  him  to  keep  his  gift 
in  the  background. 

In  Kansas  it  was  as  suddenly  as 
remarkably  made  prominent  perforce. 
It  came  into  use  the  first  day  after 
we  set  out  on  our  journey  over  the 
prairie.  We  had  not  gone  far  from 
the  borders  of  civilization,  —  only  far 
enough  for  its  objects  to  be  out  of 
view,  —  when  our  whole  caravan  of 
travelers,  their  teams,  horses,  oxen, 


96        John  Brown  the  Hero 

and  wagons,  came  to  a  full  stop. 
The  trail  over  the  prairie  branched 
into  two,  and  all  were  in  doubt  which 
was  the  right  one  to  take.  The 
clouds  had  shut  in  the  sun,  and  the 
boundless  prairie  stretched  out  on 
all  sides,  with  not  an  object,  house 
or  tree,  hill,  or  even  a  rock,  in  view, 
as  a  landmark  by  which  we  could 
aim  our  course.  One  of  the  party, 
with  a  little  experience  in  traveling 
on  the  prairie,  warned  us  that  an 
error  made  here  might  mislead  us  a 
whole  day's  journey. 

The  situation  began  to  be  a  little 
distressing  ;  whereupon  the  older 
brother  of  the  psychic  boy  said : 
"  Call  up  my  brother.  He  will  tell 
you  which  trail  to  take/'  Accord 
ingly,  the  boy  was  summoned  to  the 
front ;  and  to  the  older  heads,  wait 
ing  there  with  amused  smiles  on  their 
faces  for  the  decision,  he  pointed 


An   Unfailing  Guide          97 

out  what,  in  his  belief,  was  the  right 
trail.  Being  wholly  in  doubt,  they, 
with  their  smiles  deepening  to  laugh 
ter,  said  they  might  as  well  follow 
the  trail  he  indicated.  It  turned  out 
to  be  the  correct  one. 

During  the  following  ten  or  a 
dozen  days'  journey,  as  many  times 
at  least  the  youth  was  summoned  to 
the  front,  and  his  psychical  faculty 
put  to  the  test.  Its  possessor  was 
made  happy,  and  his  companions 
were  equally  gratified,  that  his  power 
in  no  instance  failed  him. 

These  trails,  mere  wagon  -  tracks 
across  the  country,  ran  in  amost  all 
directions,  crosswise,  parallel,  and  at 
all  angles,  and  were  enough  to  puzzle 
the  very  elect,  —  the  elect  being  in 
this  instance  the  psychic  youth.  The 
earnest  wish  to  find  the  way  in  any 
case  —  and  the  stronger  and  more 
earnest  the  wish  the  better  —  seemed 


98        John  Brown  the  Hero 

to  be  a  sort  of  mainspring  to  the 
action  of  the  power  to  insure  its 
success. 

This  gift  was  brought  into  play 
many  times  during  the  two  years  of 
Kansas  events  sketched  here,  and 
served  us  well ;  was  often  invaluable. 
The  fact  just  mentioned,  that  the 
strong  wish  insured  its  effectiveness, 
was  often  clearly  shown.  For  in 
stance,  on  the  occasion  referred  to 
in  a  previous  chapter,  of  our  happen 
ing  upon  Captain  Brown's  camp  in 
an  out-of-the-way  spot  on  our  trip 
for  provisions,  there  was  a  strong 
desire  on  our  part,  excited,  perhaps, 
much  by  curiosity,  to  see  Brown  and 
his  men  at  that  particular  time  in 
their  temporary  hiding-place  ;  and 
seemingly  by  this  intense  desire  in 
citing  the  psychic  power,  we  were 
led  to  the  spot,  —  for  it  had  taken 
us,  as  we  found  afterward,  quite  a 


An   Unfailing  Guide          99 

number  of  miles  out  of  our  direct 
course. 

In  passing,  we  will  here  digress  a 
little  from  our  story  to  say  that,  at 
this  time  of  our  visit,  Brown  was 
being  hunted  down,  like  a  criminal 
or  a  wild  beast,  by  the  Government 
military  as  well  as  by  his  other 
enemies,  and  was  all  the  time  liable 
to  betrayal  into  their  hands. 

I  remember  well,  in  this  connec 
tion,  how  we  found  him  armed  that 
day.  He  carried  about  his  person 
not  less  than  twenty  shots  with 
which  to  defend  himself  did  it 
become  necessary  :  a  Remington 
repeater  —  six  shots  ;  a  brace  of  re 
volvers  —  six-shooters  ;  and  a  pair 
of  pistols.  He  had  also  a  long  knife 
or  dirk,  and  his  usual  trusty  old 
broadsword.  Most  of  these  arms, 
he  seemed  to  take  pains  to  inform 
us,  were  presented  to  him  by  his 


ioo       John  Brown  the  Hero 

friends.  Particularly  did  the  old 
man  impress  me,  while  showing  us 
the  weapons,  when  he  quietly  re 
marked  :  "  Our  enemies  would  like 
much,  no  doubt,  to  get  hold  of  me; 
but,"  he  added  with  sternness,  "  I 
will  never  be  taken  alive,  and  I  warn 
them  I  shall  punish  them  to  the 
extent  of  my  power  if  they  attempt 
my  capture." 

To  return  from  this  digression,  it 
was  a  perilous  thing  in  those  days 
for  one  to  venture  out  alone  on  the 
prairie.  It  was  perilous  to  life,  and 
perhaps  still  more  dangerous  to  the 
property  of  him  who  ventured,  —  at 
least  in  some  ways.  For  one  thing, 
we  did  not  dare  to  risk  our  horses. 
Horses  were  valuable,  and  the  enemy 
considered  them  as  legitimate  con 
traband  of  war.  The  luckless  horse 
man  caught  abroad  by  his  foes  was 
simply  ordered  to  dismount.  His 


An   Unfailing  Guide        101 

horse,  saddled  and  bridled,  was  led 
off,  and  the  owner  was  left  to  make 
his  way  on  foot,  no  matter  how  far 
the  distance.  When  a  team  without 
a  load  was  overtaken  by  our  oppo 
nents,  the  horses  were  appropriated 
and  the  wagon  left  standing  on  the 
prairie.  Were  the  wagon  loaded  with 
valuables,  both  animals  and  wagon 
were  confiscated,  and  their  owner 
was  told,  very  likely  with  rifles 
pointed  at  him,  to  run  for  life  till 
out  of  sight.  In  such  cases,  were 
one  found  with  money  or  other  val 
uables  on  his  person,  he  was  sum 
marily  relieved  of  them.  Sometimes 
we  sewed  our  money  within  the 
lining  of  our  clothes,  for  safety ;  but 
that  device  for  concealment  had  its 
risks.  One  was  liable  to  be  stripped, 
and  to  have  his  clothing  cut  or  torn 
to  shreds  in  the  hurried  search  for 
the  money. 


XV 

Hazardous  Journeys 

-*j 

SUCH  were  some  of  the  hazards 
of  travel  at  that  time,  when  the 
new  territory  was  indeed  "  bleed 
ing  Kansas." 

Journeys,  nevertheless,  had  to  be 
made,  and  long  ones,  and  many  of 
them  from  sheer  necessity.  We 
were  obliged  to  buy  in  a  distant 
market  all  the  food  we  ate,  with  all 
other  necessaries  of  life.  Shipment 
of  goods  must  be  made  by  ox-teams 
—  the  use  of  horses  being  out  of 
the  question,  for  the  reasons  men 
tioned  ;  and  the  ox-team  was  rather  a 
slow  means  of  transportation.  Some 


Hazardous  Journeys        103 

ten  days  were  necessary  to  make  the 
journey  from  our  settlement  to  the 
nearest  good  market,  Kansas  City, 
and  return. 

There  was  another  matter  we  had 
to  consider.  The  journeys  were 
hazardous  to  men  as  well  as  to 
horses.  Men  were  valuable  and 
scarce.  Not  more  than  two  at  most 
were  ever  allowed  to  go  on  these 
dangerous  errands,  and  usually  one 
only. 

It  is  not  strange,  as  will  readily 
be  understood,  that  the  boy  who 
could  "  find  his  way "  was  for  that 
reason  chosen  to  make  these  trips, 
and  he  generally  went  alone.  An 
other  reason  for  this  choice  was  that 
the  settlers  would  not  run  the  risk 
of  sacrificing  their  mature,  strong 
male  members  in  this  service,  could 
it  be  avoided.  This  youth  --  be 
cause  a  youth,  with  no  one,  wife  or 


iO4       John  Brown  the  Hero 

children,  dependent  upon  him  - 
would  not  be  so  great  a  loss  to  the 
community  if  capture,  imprisonment, 
or  death  befell  him  !  He  was,  how 
ever,  inspired  by,  and  felt  not  a  little 
pride  because  of,  the  confidence  re 
posed  in  his  ability  to  perform  the 
difficult  and  dangerous  task  assigned 
him. 

Quite  a  number  of  these  trips  I 
made  alone,  and  in  not  one  did  I 
lose  my  way.  On  one  occasion  the 
guiding  faculty  was  put  to  a  severe 
test.  At  the  end  of  a  day's  travel 
the  oxen  were  freed  as  usual  from 
the  wagon  for  two  or  three  hours, 
in  order  that  they  might  graze. 
Meanwhile,  strict  watch  of  them 
was  necessary,  lest  they  should 
wander  away.  That  night,  through 
much  exhaustion  and  lack  of  rest,  it 
was  my  misfortune  to  fall  asleep. 
When  I  awoke,  long  past  midnight, 


Hazardous  Journeys        105 

the  cattle  were  gone.  The  full 
moon  shone  brightly  overhead,  light 
ing  up  the  horizon  far  away  on  all 
sides  ;  but,  far  and  wide  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  no  sight  or  sign  of  the 
animals  was  visible  on  that  prairie 
ocean. 

A  serious  state  of  things  this  ap 
peared  to  be,  at  first  thought,  and 
it  awakened  serious  apprehensions. 
Far  from  home,  I  was  left  with  my 
valuables  on  the  prairie,  bereft  of  all 
means  of  taking  them  to  their  des 
tination.  But  upon  second  thought, 
often  the  better,  I  calmly  fell  back, 
for  rescue,  on  my  humble  psychic 
faculty.  Humble  and  inconsequen 
tial  I  had  held  it,  but,  if  it  served 
me  true  this  time,  it  never  again 
should  be  lightly  valued. 

It  proved  as  true  as  the  needle 
to  the  pole. 

It  seemed  to  me  that   the  cattle 


106       John  Brown  the  Hero 

had  gone  in  a  certain  direction ;  and 
in  that  direction  I  went,  in  a  straight 
line  over  the  prairie,  three  or  four 
miles,  directly  to  them.  There  they 
were,  quietly  feeding,  close  to  a 
stream  at  which  they  had  evidently 
quenched  their  thirst.  They  were 
led,  doubtless,  to  find  this  water,  in 
their  need  that  night,  by  an  instinct 
similar  to,  and  equally  as  unerring 
as,  that  possessed  by  their  owner 
which  he  had  used  to  find  them. 

Whether  the  same  instinct  that 
"  found  the  way "  in  the  instances 
related  served  to  secure  successful 
avoidance  of  the  enemy  on  these 
journeys  will  not  be  asserted ;  but 
this  interesting  fact  can  be  affirmed, 
namely,  that,  happily  for  the  lone 
teamster  and  for  the  settlers  whose 
property,  whether  money  or  pur 
chases,  was  intrusted  to  his  care, 
not  once  were  dangerous  foes  en- 


Hazardous  Journeys        107 

countered  on  these  trips,  and  only 
in  one  instance  was  there  a  near 
approach  to  it. 

One  day  three  horsemen  appeared 
on  the  horizon  in  the  rear,  bearing 
down  upon  me.  When  we  have  not 
strength  sufficient,  we  are  prone  to 
resort  to  strategy  for  protection  or 
to  extricate  ourselves  from  difficulty. 
On  board  my  wagon,  the  usual  large 
"prairie-schooner,"  covered  with  can 
vas,  was  a  box  of  firearms  which, 
with  foolhardiness,  I  had  undertaken 
to  deliver  in  Osawatomie.  For  one 
to  transport  arms  was  to  invite  the 
services  of  the  executioner. 

I  had  reason  that  day,  however, 
to  thank  my  foolhardiness.  At  first 
sight  of  the  approaching  horsemen  I 
sprang  into  the  cart,  forced  off  the 
box-cover,  and  stuck  several  of  the 
gun-muzzles  out  under  the  sides  of 
the  wagon-canopy. 


io8        John  Brown  the  Hero 

And  another  reason  I  had  for 
thankfulness  that  day.  It  had  been 
my  good  fortune  that  summer,  while 
lying  ill  of  the  ague,  to  learn  a  little 
of  the  ventriloquist's  art  from  a  half- 
breed  Indian.  The  accomplishment 
served  me  well  now.  As  the  strange 
horsemen  closely  approached,  I  was 
busy  carrying  on  a  conversation, 
ventriloquist-wise,  with  my  imaginary 
companions  inside  the  covered  wagon. 

"  Lie  still  and  make  up  your  sleep. 
Lie  still.  No  danger." 

"  Who  is  it  ?  "  (from  the  wagon.) 

"  They  are  travelers,"  was  an 
swered ;  "friendly,  no  doubt.  Lie 
still  and  get  your  sleep." 

(From  inside  the  wagon)  "  Whistle 
if  you  want  us." 

Answer  :  "  O  yes,  I  will.  Lie  still. 
No  danger,  —  they're  friends." 

By  this  time  the  troopers  were 
alongside.  They  looked  hard  at  me, 


Hazardous  Journeys        109 

but  harder  at  the  gun-muzzles,  made 
the  usual  "  good-day  "  greeting,  asked 
a  few  questions,  and  rode  on.  My 
little  artifice  had  worked  like  a 
charm.  My  visitors,  I  felt  little 
doubt,  had  planned  and  meant  mis 
chief  ;  had  probably  been  in  search 
of  my  team,  possibly  for  days,  incited 
by  hope  of  rich  plunder. 

This  record  of  personal  experi 
ences  will  serve  the  main  purpose 
for  which  it  is  written  if  it  lays  bare 
to  the  reader  in  some  degree  the 
difficulties  and  dangers,  the  trials 
and  sacrifices,  of  the  Free  State 
settlers  whom  John  Brown  led  at 
last  to  victory  in  the  Kansas  struggle 
for  freedom. 

In  closing  this  chapter,  I  will  give 
my  readers  the  only  explanation  I 
am  able  to  proffer  of  the  strange 
faculty  of  localization  which  has  been 
mentioned.  No  voice  is  heard,  noth- 


1 1  o        John  Brown  the  Hero 

ing  like  an  impression  is  felt,  there 
is  no  experience  of  any  occult  power 
of  vision.  Indeed,  I  have  already 
stated  all  that  I  am  conscious  of,  in 
the  words,  "  it  seems  to  me "  that 
the  object  of  quest,  or  the  locality 
sought,  lies  in  a  certain  direction 
or  place,  whenever  this  faculty  is 
brought  into  play  to  find  it. 


XVI 
The  Osawatomie  Battle 


THE  engagement  at  Sugar  Mound 
(also  called  Middle  Creek)  took 
place  on  Monday,  the  25th  of 
August.     Five  days  later,  on  Satur 
day,   August    3Oth,   was   fought   the 
really  famous  battle  of  Osawatomie, 
the     Bunker     Hill    of     the     Kansas 
struggle. 

In  the  early  dawn  of  that  day 
some  four  hundred  of  the  enemy, 
well  mounted  and  equipped,  —  with 
their  bayonets  glistening  in  the  morn 
ing  sun,  —  bore  down  upon  the  de 
voted  town  and  its  stanch  defenders. 
There,  in  that  day's  notable  battle, 


ii2        John  Brown  the  Hero 

John  Brown  showed  that  he  pos 
sessed  real  military  talent.  In  this 
case  he  was  acting  on  the  defensive, 
and  manifested  coolness  and  caution 
equal  in  effectiveness  to  the  dash  and 
daring  displayed  on  other  occasions. 

To  our  settlement  on  the  South 
Pottawatomie,  the  same  thing  oc 
curred  on  this  memorable  occasion 
as  on  the  earlier  one  already  de 
scribed.  A  rider  came  up  the  creek 
twenty  miles,  asking  for  our  aid, 

This  time  the  messenger  was  sent 
by  Brown  himself,  and  there  was  a 
similar  ready  and  willing  response  to 
the  call,  even  though  we  had  so  lately 
arrived  home.  There  was  the  same 
eager  hurrying  to  and  fro  to  get  our 
force  together,  the  same  quick  prep 
arations,  hasty  leave-taking,  setting 
out  at  dusk,  and  the  like  night-march. 
We  made  all  possible  haste  to  the 
rescue. 


'The  O  saw  atomic  Battle       113 

Before  midnight,  however,  when 
we  had  covered  only  half  the  dis 
tance  to  our  friends  in  distress,  a 
scout  met  us  with  unwelcome  news, 
which,  to  our  dismay,  ran  :  "  Battle 
at  Osawatomie,  John  Brown  killed, 
Free  State  men  defeated,  and  the 
town  burned  to  ashes."  Moreover, 
our  informant  thought  it  probable 
that  the  victors  were  on  their  way 
to  lay  waste  our  settlement. 

The  only  thing  now  to  be  done 
was  to  return  to  our  homes,  and  to 
make  ready,  if  the  need  came,  to 
defend  them.  One  prior  thing  it 
was  decided  it  would  surely  be  well 
to  do,  namely  :  dispatch  two  scouts 
to  our  friends  at  the  scene  of  disaster 
and  get  accurate  information  of  their 
fate  or  fortune. 

The  choice  fell  upon  the  two 
brothers,  the  writer  and  his  older 
brother,  and  for  the  reason  (comfort- 


ii4       John  Brown  the  Hero 

ing  to  them)  that,  being  the  youngest 
men,  with  none  dependent  upon  them, 
their  loss,  were  they  killed,  would  be 
less  to  the  community  than  the  loss 
of  older  men.  And  besides,  one  of 
them  was  good  at  "  finding  the  way  " 
and  the  other  had  won  a  reputation 
for  extra  courage  and  trustiness  in 
emergencies.  We  were  assigned,  to 
say  the  least,  a  rather  delicate  and 
hazardous  duty,  and  probably  there 
were  few  men  in  the  company  that 
night  anxious  or  willing  to  under 
take  it. 

Bidding  our  comrades  adieu,  we 
mounted  two  of  our  best  horses  and 
proceeded  on  through  the  night. 
Being  obliged,  for  safety,  to  avoid 
both  the  "open"  and  the  main  road, 
we  could  make  our  way  but  slowly, 
and  so  did  not  reach  the  vicinity  of 
Osawatomie  till  daylight.  We  kept 
in  hiding  during  the  day,  spying 


The  Osawatomie  Battle       115 

around  the  city  of  desolation  and 
trying  to  learn  of  the  presence  of 
foes  or  if  any  of  our  friends  were 
still  alive.  After  nightfall  we  cau 
tiously  approached  the  log-cabin  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  town,  where,  if 
anywhere,  we  knew  we  should  most 
likely  find  friends.  It  was  the  home 
of  the  Adairs,  relatives  of  John  Brown. 

There  we  learned  from  them  the 
story  of  recent  events.  Captain 
Brown  had  not  been  killed,  as  was 
reported,  though  he  was  wounded ; 
but  there  in  that  humble  cottage, 
folded  in  the  embrace  of  death,  lay 
one  of  his  sons,  the  tall,  handsome 
Frederick  Brown,  as  noble-looking  as 
he  was  noble  of  soul,  the  fourth  of 
that  now  historic  band  of  six  hero- 
sons,  worthy  scions  of  their  hero- 
father. 

As  the  Pro-slavery  invaders  were 
marching  into  Osawatomie,  two  of 


n6        John  Brown  the  Hero 

their  scouts,  at  some  distance  from 
the  town,  met  this  son  of  Brown 
with  a  companion  named  Garrison, 
and  in  cold  blood,  without  provoca 
tion,  shot  down  the  unarmed  men. 
Their  whole  force  of  four  hundred 
or  more  horsemen  then  trampled 
over  the  bodies,  leaving  them  to  lie 
there  all  day  in  the  hot  August  sun. 
Late  that  same  night,  Sunday  even 
ing,  as  we  lingered  in  conversation 
with  the  family,  the  old  father,  hav 
ing  learned  of  the  death  of  his  son, 
returned  to  take  a  last  look  at  his 
remains.  Here  again,  surely,  was  a 
scene  for  a  painter,  in  that  lowly  cabin 
that  night.  If  a  picture  of  it,  as  those 
bright  young  eyes  saw  it  in  all  its 
realistic  setting  and  color,  could  have 
been  faithfully  depicted  on  the  artist's 
canvas,  and  thus  preserved  for  us 
to-day,  it  could  not  fail  to  be  of  more 
than  common  historic  interest. 


1 1 8        John  Brown  the  Hero 

and  representing  him  sitting  in  his 
accustomed  chair  in  the  main  room 
of  the  house,  —  the  room  where  lay 
the  body  of  Brown's  son,  Frederick, 
and  where  the  father  sadly  viewed  it. 

The  battle  of  Osawatomie  was 
surely  a  remarkable  engagement. 
Brown,  with  a  handful  of  men  has 
tily  gathered  together  and  placed  in 
position,  kept  long  at  bay  more  than 
ten  times  their  number.  The  stand 
was  made  in  the  edge  of  the  timber, 
on  the  near  bank  of  the  river. 
"There,"  said  Brown  modestly  in 
his  account  of  the  battle,  "we  had 
exceptional  opportunity  to  annoy  the 
enemy." 

The  first  onslaught  of  their  foes, 
who  marched  gaily  as  if  to  sure  vic 
tory,  was  met  by  a  steady,  deter 
mined  fire  from  Brown  and  his  men, 
so  destructive  as  to  make  the  ranks 


'The  Osawatomie  Battle       119 

of  their  assailants  reel,  break,  and 
then  hastily  retreat.  Again  and  yet 
again  they  re-formed  their  broken 
lines,  and  renewed  the  attack,  suffer 
ing  terrible  punishment  each  time, 
till  their  leaders  could  rally  them  no 
longer. 

At  that  time  the  gallant  little 
band  of  defenders,  out  of  ammunition 
and  with  their  ranks  sadly  thinned, 
thought  it  wise  to  retire  across  the 
river.  Their  foes,  crippled  and  shat 
tered,  had  no  heart  to  follow,  and 
the  battle  ended.  It  only  remained 
for  spite  and  revenge  to  find  vent 
in  the  burning  of  the  town. 

We  need  not  recite  details  here  ; 
they  are  matters  of  history.  And 
yet  some  uncertainty  has  hung  over 
that  engagement.  The  invaders,  in 
the  chagrin  and  shame  of  their  more 
than  failure,  proceeded  to  conceal  or 
falsify  the  facts.  And  never  was 


I2O       John  Brown  the  Hero 

there  greater  temptation  to  falsifica 
tion.  The  certainty  of  Brown's  anni 
hilation  at  their  hands  they  had  loudly 
trumpeted  beforehand,  but  their  own 
defeat  had  occurred  instead. 

The  account  of  the  battle  written 
soon  after  by  Brown  to  his  family 
was  near  to  the  truth,  and  is  borne 
out  by  all  reliable  testimony.  About 
thirty  of  the  assailants  were  killed, 
and  the  usual  ratio  of  wounded  would 
be  some  seventy-five  or  eighty. 


XVII 
Conclusion 


IN  concluding  these  reminiscences 
it  only  remains  to  be  said,  of  the 
subject  of  them,  that  in  the  writer's 
opinion  John  Brown  was  a  great  man  ; 
and  he  believes  that  this  will  be  the 
verdict  of  the  future  upon  him  when 
misconceptions  and  prejudice  are 
blown  to  the  winds.  John  Brown  is 
one  of  the  most  unique  characters 
in  all  our  history.  In  a  way,  he 
stands  almost  alone,  and  deserves,  if 
only  for  that  reason,  a  place  in  the 
Hall  of  Fame  far  more  than  many 
a  one  who  has  been  given  a  niche 
therein. 


122        John  Brown  the  Hero 

John  Brown  was  a  hero.  Our 
country  has  brought  forth  no  greater 
one.  He  was  of  the  very  substance 
and  essence  of  self-sacrifice.  What 
higher  can  be  said  of  any  one  of 
our  humankind  ?  Everything,  posses 
sions,  reputation,  life,  he  was  ready 
to  throw  into  the  scales  against 
wrong  and  for  the  cause  of  human 
liberty,  human  rights,  and  justice, 
which  were  to  him  as  sacred,  as 
divine,  as  the  God  he  worshiped. 
Love  of  them  was  the  consuming 
passion  of  his  soul,  and  to  fight  for 
them,  to  live  and  die  for  them,  was 
to  him  the  highest  duty  of  man. 

The  ablest  minds  have  been  the 
most  appreciative  of  the  high  qualities 
of  John  Brown,  —  for  example,  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson,  of  our  own  country, 
and  Victor  Hugo,  of  France.  It  is 
Edward  Everett  Hale  who  has  pro- 


Conclusion  123 

nounced  him  "  our  great  American 
martyr."  Nothing  could  be  finer  than 
Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson's  trib 
ute  :  "It  must  be  conceded  that  John 
Brown  was  the  most  eloquent  of  all 
our  great  Abolitionists,  for  his  was 
the  eloquence  of  a  life." 

Let  not  our  readers  conclude  that 
we  are  attempting  to  glorify  Brown's 
militant  course,  or  that  we  would 
inspire  the  spirit  of  war.  We  cele 
brate  the  great  soul. 

John  A.  Andrew  said  :  "  Whatever 
might  be  thought  of  John  Brown's 
acts,  John  Brown  himself  was  right." 
That  sentiment  so  touched  the  pop 
ular  heart  at  the  time  that  it  went 
far  to  make  Andrew  governor. 

We  may  accept  fully  and  wholly 
the  man,  though  we  approve  not  his 
methods.  Brown  derived  his  ideal, 
in  its  spirit,  so  to  speak,  from  the 


124       Jehn  Brown  the  Hero 

New  Testament  ;  but  his  ideal  of 
action  was  rooted  in  the  Old  Dis 
pensation.  The  one  is  wholly  worthy 
our  following,  the  other  is  not. 

One  can  allow  that  this  is  true, 
though  he  hold  that  the  old  or  past 
was  inevitable,  and  that  Brown  did 
the  best  possible  at  the  time  and 
under  the  circumstances.  That  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  go  on  imitat 
ing  his  example  ;  but  we  cannot  be 
enough  filled  with  his  spirit. 

The  truth,  we  think,  may  be  told 
in  a  word  :  John  Brown  belonged  to 
the  "  old  order,"  which  is  passing 
away.  Heaven  speed  its  end !  He 
was  a  man  of  war,  whatever  else  he 
might  be ;  though  it  seems  surely  to 
be  shown  that  he  was  much  besides. 
While  we  would  do  him  full  justice, 
while  we  glorify  the  spirit  he  was  of, 
we  must  turn  to  our  higher  ideal,  — 


Conclusion  125 

those  of  the  "  new  order,"  the  men  of 
peace.  The  spirit  of  both  may  be  the 
same,  their  methods  are  as  opposite 
as  the  poles. 

Tolstoi  has  given  us  the  key  that 
opens  to  us  the  coming  ideal :  "  It 
is  better  to  suffer  wrong,  even  with 
out  limit,  than  to  do  wrong  even  in 
the  least." 

This  represents  the  meaning  of 
Tolstoi,  though  it  may  not  be  ex 
pressed  in  just  his  words.  That  ideal 
is  far  in  advance  of  mankind  in  gen 
eral  to-day,  but  the  world  is  moving 
surely  if  slowly  toward  it.  The  spirit 
that  actuated  John  Brown  —  that  of 
self-sacrifice  for  what  he  believed  to 
be  the  good  and  true,  and  his  entire 
devotion  to  liberty  and  right  —  is  to 
be  more  and  more  alive,  and  more 
truly  than  ever  "  marching  on." 

The   North   will    more   and   more 


126        John  Brown  the  Hero 

appreciate  and  honor  John  Brown, 
as  time  goes  on  ;  and  we  shall  not 
wonder  very  much  if  even  the  South 
some  day  builds  a  monument  to  his 
memory.  For  it  is  simple  justice,  and 
not  flattery,  to  say  that  no  men  ever 
lived  who  possessed  higher  courage 
or  had  a  finer  sense  of  what  is  heroic 
than  the  true  Southerner. 


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